Archivi categoria: The Washington Post

The Washington Post

In Italy, gay Catholics feel the ‘Francis Effect’

By Anthony Faiola / Stefano Pitrelli contributed to this report

TWP2832014FLORENCE, Italy — The power of the Catholic Church in Italy has forced thousands of gays and lesbians to live in the shadows, and the opposition of bishops made this the only nation in Western Europe to withhold legal rights from same-sex couples. But gay Catholics here now speak of a new ray of light from what they call “l’effetto Francesco.”

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Alessandro Penso / OnOff Picture for The Washington Post – Giulia Masieri, 32, is given Communion during the Mass held by Don Andrea Bigalli in the Church of Sant’Andrea in Florence, Italy. The parish welcomes gay Catholics.

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The Washington Post

Retired Pope Benedict watches his successor soar

By Anthony Faiola / Stefano Pitrelli contributed to this report

VATICAN CITY — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is not “jealous” of his successor’s worldwide celebrity, holds him in “high esteem”
and is developing an ever closer relationship with Pope Francis through “regular” communications, according to the former pontiff’s private secretary and prefect of the papal household, Archbishop Georg Gänswein.
The Washington Post

Italy’s train wars: The long, winding road of competition

By Anthony Faiola / Stefano Pitrelli contributed to this report

ROME — In this land where train schedules were once rough estimates and riding a chugging “locale” could feel like traveling by mechanical bull, the hypermodern Italo locomotives aimed to shake up the state-controlled world of Italian rail.

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