Pope Francis

The leaders of the Catholic, Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches called on the global community to do more to protect the planet's future, dpa reported.

By George Gilson

When in July, 2020 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned the Hagia Sofia Museum into to a mosque, he sparked an international outcry.

Over a year later, addressing members of his AKP party in Rize, Erdogan accused the opposition of trying to keep Hagia Sophia closed.

Now it seems that Orban and Ader will, after all, have a 45-minute audience with Pope Francis, who will leave the same day to start his three-day visit to Slovakia.

Pope Francis has accepted the invitation of President Katerina Sakellaropoulou to visit Greece in September.

Sakellaropoulou issued the invitation in a telephone conversation with the pope about a year ago.

Erdogan's making Hagia Sophia a mosque

The Vatican has protested to Italy over a bill on homophobia currently passing through parliament.

The "Zan" bill would punish discrimination and incitement to violence against the LGBT community, as well as women and people with disabilities.

The Vatican argues the bill would curb religious freedoms secured in a treaty signed between Italy and Vatican Repubic.

Rebooting the System

The European union flag flies over the apostolic palace during visit of the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis, Vatican City, 22 May 2021. EPA-EFE/FABIO FRUSTACI

The head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis Friday gave an audience to President Roumen Radev and an official Bulgarian delegation he heads for a traditional visit for the Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture and of Slav Letters, May 24.

North Macedonia's President Stevo Pendarovski and his Bulgarian counterpart, Rumen Radev, are traveling this week to Rome to pay joint tribute to Sts Cyril and Methodius, the ninth-century missionaries and founders of the first Slavic alphabet, who were sanctified there in the 19th century.

On Sunday, Pope Francis and President Klaus Iohannis congratulated Cardinal Lucian, Major Archbishop of the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek Catholic, on the occasion of his 90th birthday.

As she has each evening for the last eight months, Giuliana Turati opened her well-worn copy of Dante's "Divine Comedy" as the last of 13 peels of a church bell reverberated around the tomb of the great Italian poet.