Christianity in the 21st century

[5] He strengthened the relationship between the Catholic Church and art, promoted the use of Latin,[6] and reintroduced traditional papal garments, for which reason he was called "the pope of aesthetics".

[11] In July 2007, Pope Benedict issued the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, allowing priests to celebrate the Tridentine Mass without first having to receive permission from their local ordinary.

[15] In reply to such criticisms, Dr John Newton, editor of Baronius Press, pointed out that the prayer draws heavily on 2 Corinthians chapters 3 and 4, and the invocation for God to "lift the veil from their hearts" is a direct quote from 2 Cor 3:15.

[16] In October 2009, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced Pope Benedict XVI's intention to create a new type of ecclesiastical structure, called a personal ordinariate, for groups of Anglicans entering into full communion with the see of Rome.

In September 2016, Cardinals Raymond Burke, Carlo Caffarra, Walter Brandmüller, and Joachim Meisner wrote a letter to Francis, requesting that he clarify five statements from Amoris laetitia.

On 9 May 2019, Francis issued the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi, establishing new procedural norms to combat sexual abuse and to ensure that bishops and religious superiors are held accountable for their actions.

[33][34] A full letter to the bishops regarding the change stated that it was consistent with the previous teachings of the Catholic Church regarding the dignity of human life, and that it reflected how modern society had better prison systems with a goal of criminal rehabilitation that made the death penalty unnecessary for the protection of innocent people.

[42] On 2 February 2020, Francis published the apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia, ignoring the question of married priests, calling for women to be given greater roles in the Church, but not within the holy orders of the diaconate or the priesthood, and promoting inculturation with a request that the faithful "respect native forms of expression in song, dance, rituals, gestures and symbols".

[46][47] At the height of the outbreak in Italy,[48] on 27 March, Pope Francis imparted the Urbi et Orbi blessing, normally reserved for Christmas and Easter, from an empty Saint Peter's Square following a prayer for the health of all the world.

[49][50] For the prayer service, Francis brought the crucifix from San Marcello al Corso which had processed through the streets of Rome during the miraculous plague cure of 1522.

The tomos was signed at St. George's Cathedral in the presence of Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, and was presented to Metropolitan Epiphanius to be brought to Kyiv in time for Christmas, the first liturgy celebrated by the united Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The Holy and Sacred Synod of Constantinople convened Monday May 9, 2022, under the chairmanship of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and discussed extensively the ecclesiastical matter of Skopje.

[101] On 1 March 2020, Seoul mayor Park Won-soon announced that the Seoul City Government had made a criminal complaint about the church's pastor Lee Man-hee, whom Shincheonji adherents believed to be the messiah, asking for an investigation into him and twelve others connected to the sect on charges of murder by negligence and violations of the Disease Control Act, citing their negligence in preventing an outbreak among their congregants and their refusal to cooperate with the government throughout the crisis.

[107][108] Two of the major events which contributed to the Anglican realignment were the 2002 decision of the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada to authorise a rite of blessing for same-sex unions, and the nomination of two openly gay priests in 2003 to become bishops.

[119] On the eve of 7 January 2010, as worshippers were leaving the Mar-Yuhanna (St. John) church in Nag Hammadi after Eastern Christmas Mass(which finishes around midnight), three Muslim men in a car opened fire, killing 8 Christians and injuring another 10.

[122][123][124] In Tahrir Square, Cairo, on Wednesday 2 February 2011, Coptic Christians joined hands to provide a protective cordon around their Muslim neighbors during salat (prayers) in the midst of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

[146] Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan of Artsakh compared the shelling with the actions of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, saying "They are bombarding our spiritual values, when we are restoring and preserving mosques".

[150] On 25 July 2018, delegates from the Patriarchate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and those in the United States, declared reunification in Washington, D.C., with the assistance of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

[161] On 9 July 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi arrived in preparation to announce the full liberation of Mosul and reclaim the city after three years of ISIL control.

It also lamented "immense tragedy" of the widespread persecution of Christians in the Middle East; the Pope and the Catholicos prayed "for a change of heart in all those who commit such crimes and those who are in a position to stop the violence".

[170] On 5 April 2018, a two-meter-high bronze statue of St. Gregory of Narek, erected by Davit Yerevantsi, was unveiled at the Vatican Gardens by Mikael Minasyan, Armenia's Ambassador to the Holy See.

[174] Pope John Paul II officially called off all future talks between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion upon the consecration of Gene Robinson as a bishop in 2003.

Under these terms, regional groupings of Anglican Catholics may apply for reception by the Holy See under the jurisdiction of an "ordinary" (i.e. a bishop or priest[note 2]) appointed by Rome to oversee the community.

On 13 October 2019, Pope Francis canonized Saint John Henry Newman, a London-born priest who led the Oxford Movement in the Church of England before converting to Catholicism and becoming an Oratorian Father and eventually the Cardinal-Deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro.

[184] In June 2004, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I's visit to Rome afforded a meeting with Pope John Paul II, for conversations with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and for taking part in the celebration for the feast day in St. Peter's Basilica.

[citation needed] The Ravenna Document in 2007 re-stated the notion that the Bishop of Rome is indeed the first (Greek: πρώτος, romanized: protos) among the patriarchs, although future discussions are to be held on the concrete ecclesiological exercise of papal primacy.

A range of other issues are mentioned in the declaration, including atheism, secularism, consumerism, migrants and refugees, the importance of marriage and the family, and concerns relating to abortion and euthanasia.

[191] Pope Francis also gave Bartholomew nine bone fragments which were believed to have belonged to Saint Peter and which were displayed at a public Mass which was held in the Vatican in November 2013 to celebrate the Year of Faith.

[202] Representatives from the Anglican Communion, Baptist World Alliance, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Salvation Army also participated in the predominantly Catholic and Lutheran event.

[203] Pope Francis, in a joint statement with Munib Younan, stated that "With gratitude we acknowledge that the Reformation helped give a greater centrality to sacred Scripture in the Church's life".