https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Pope Francis held a private audience Wednesday with a French student critically injured in 2016 defending a gay couple who were kissing in the street in the French city of Lyon. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180411/french-student-student-beaten-for-defending-gay-couple Wed, 11 Apr 2018 18:45:36 +0200 french-student-student-beaten-for-defending-gay-couple Pope Francis on Tuesday congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his inauguration as French president and said he hoped the youthful new leader would work to build a fairer society. https://www.thelocal.fr/20170516/pope-congratulates-macron-on-presidency Tue, 16 May 2017 17:53:58 +0200 pope-congratulates-macron-on-presidency Pope Francis has told French politicians not to just ritually recite the Republic's famous values of "liberté, égalité and fraternité", but to really mean them and stick to them. https://www.thelocal.fr/20161130/libert-equality-fraternity-france-pope-francis-tells-the-french-to-mean-it Wed, 30 Nov 2016 13:55:15 +0100 libert-equality-fraternity-france-pope-francis-tells-the-french-to-mean-it Pope Francis on Saturday called for a "sincere dialogue" between Christians and Muslims as he met grieving relatives and survivors of France's Bastille Day attack, in which a jihadist ploughed his truck into a crowd. https://www.thelocal.fr/20160924/pope-calls-for-christian-muslim-dialogue-as-meets-nice-victims Sat, 24 Sep 2016 17:43:09 +0200 pope-calls-for-christian-muslim-dialogue-as-meets-nice-victims Pope Francis will on Saturday hold a multi-faith meeting of grieving relatives and survivors of an attack in France in July when a jihadist ploughed his truck into a crowd in Nice. https://www.thelocal.fr/20160924/pope-holds-multi-faith-meeting-with-nice-victims Sat, 24 Sep 2016 10:58:24 +0200 pope-holds-multi-faith-meeting-with-nice-victims French President Francois Hollande will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday to discuss the aftermath of the jihadist murder of a French priest, Hollande's office said on Monday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20160816/frances-hollande-to-meet-pope-after-priest-killing Tue, 16 Aug 2016 11:38:45 +0200 frances-hollande-to-meet-pope-after-priest-killing French victims of the paedophile priest Bernard Preynat on Monday sent a letter to Pope Francis, requesting a private audience with the pontiff. https://www.thelocal.fr/20160314/victims-of-paedophile-priest-demand-audience-with-the-pope Mon, 14 Mar 2016 11:32:59 +0100 victims-of-paedophile-priest-demand-audience-with-the-pope The parents of French saint Therese of Lisieux -- dubbed 'The Little Flower' -- were raised to sainthood too on Sunday, in a move Pope Francis hopes will underscore the importance of the family. https://www.thelocal.fr/20151018/pope-canonises-french-parents-of-little-flower Sun, 18 Oct 2015 19:39:33 +0200 pope-canonises-french-parents-of-little-flower A Hungarian mayor has offered to "rescue" a statue of Pope John Paul II set for demolition in France after a court ruled it contravened laws on secularity. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150515/hungary-mayor-offers-to-save-doomed-french-statue Fri, 15 May 2015 11:04:19 +0200 hungary-mayor-offers-to-save-doomed-french-statue UPDATED: France said on Wednesday it was sticking by its choice to send a gay diplomat to the Vatican despite three months of silence from the Holy See over the appointment. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150415/france-stands-by-choice-of-gay-vatican-envoy Wed, 15 Apr 2015 15:48:47 +0200 france-stands-by-choice-of-gay-vatican-envoy Pope Francis on Saturday named French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran the new camerlengo, or chamberlain, charged with temporarily taking over the pontiff's duties if he resigns or dies. https://www.thelocal.fr/20141221/french-cardinal-named-as-papal-back-up Sun, 21 Dec 2014 08:01:00 +0100 french-cardinal-named-as-papal-back-up Pope Francis urged an "haggard" Europe to do more for migrants and fight rising nationalism in a speech to the EU parliament on Tuesday, telling MEPs the Mediterranean must not turn into a "vast cemetery". https://www.thelocal.fr/20141125/pope-tells-europe-to-do-more-for-migrants Tue, 25 Nov 2014 14:30:00 +0100 pope-tells-europe-to-do-more-for-migrants Pope Francis visited the eastern French city of Strasbourg on Tuesday where he will address the European Parliament on subjects such as immigration. French secularists are unhappy about the visit of a religious leader to a European political institution. https://www.thelocal.fr/20141125/popes-visit-to-strasbourg-angers-secularists Tue, 25 Nov 2014 11:06:00 +0100 popes-visit-to-strasbourg-angers-secularists Pope Francis will make his first official visit to France according to French media reports on Monday. France remains one of the world strongholds of Catholicism. https://www.thelocal.fr/20141006/pope-francis-to-make-official-visit-to-france Mon, 06 Oct 2014 19:52:00 +0200 pope-francis-to-make-official-visit-to-france A Harley-Davidson motorcycle that was once given to Pope Francis by the manufacturer pulled in an impressive pile of Euros in Paris from an unnamed European buyer at auction on Thursday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140206/popes-harley-davidson-up-for-auction-in-paris Thu, 06 Feb 2014 15:03:00 +0100 popes-harley-davidson-up-for-auction-in-paris A group of 10 French imams will meet Pope Francis on Wednesday in the latest sign of rapprochement between the Vatican and the Muslim world. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130921/french-imams-to-meet-pope Sat, 21 Sep 2013 12:01:00 +0200 french-imams-to-meet-pope Pope Francis urged French members of parliament to shun "fashions" in legislation, a day after the pontiff spoke out against gay marriage. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130616/pope-urges-french-mps-to-shun-legislative-fashions Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:15:00 +0200 pope-urges-french-mps-to-shun-legislative-fashions Political leaders in France warmly acknowledged the election of Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new head of the Catholic Church. Some on the left in France, however, criticized the Vatican conclave's choice of pontiff. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130314/france-salutes-election-of-pope-francois Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:24:00 +0100 france-salutes-election-of-pope-francois France may be a secular country officially but the Catholic Church has always had a presence in French society. As the papal conclave meets this week to choose a new pope, The Local asks: How influential is the church in France? https://www.thelocal.fr/20130313/catholicism Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:00:00 +0100 catholicism There may only be an outside chance of a French cardinal becoming Benedict XVI's successor but at least the honour of announcing the next leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics will fall to a Frenchman. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130311/french-cardinal-to-proclaim-name-of-next-pope Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:42:00 +0100 french-cardinal-to-proclaim-name-of-next-pope