Pope to meet Prince Charles and Camilla as part of Italian tour

From Vatican Radio (with audio)-

British heir to the throne, Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, meet with Pope Francis on Tuesday afternoon as part of their five day visit to Italy.

The Prince will also hold talks with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See Secretary of State, and the Vatican 'foreign minister' Archbishop Paul Gallagher, as well as with other Vatican officials at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Before the papal audience, the royal couple will be shown some of the rare documents contained in the Vatican library and secret archive.

The British heir to the throne began his Italian tour in the northern city of Vicenza, where he visited a Commonwealth cemetery, laying a wreath in memory of soldiers of different nationalities who died during the deployment of British forces to the Austrian front of the First World War one hundred years ago.

His wife, Camilla, meanwhile, spent the day in Naples, meeting with trafficked women and youngsters with learning difficulties at a former Mafia villa which was confiscated by the State. She also visited the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum which was destroyed by the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

More here-

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/04/04/pope_to_meet_prince_charles,_camilla_as_part_of_italian_tour/1303325

Prince Charles 'deeply troubled' by plight of Christians in Middle East

From Catholic News Service-

In a Dec. 17 address at London's Clarence House, the Prince of Wales said the Mideast's Christians were being persecuted by "Islamist fundamentalist militants," and he called upon the followers of Christianity, Judaism and Islam to unite to end the suffering.

"I have for some time now been deeply troubled by the growing difficulties faced by the Christian communities in various parts of the Middle East," said Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.

"It seems to me that we cannot ignore the fact that Christians in the Middle East are increasingly being deliberately targeted by fundamentalist Islamist militants," the prince said.

"Christianity was literally born in the Middle East," he said, "and we must not forget our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters in Christ."

The prince said the festive season was an opportunity for Christians, Muslims and Jews to stress what bound them together and to redouble their combined efforts to "express outrage at all that tears us asunder."

"Surely there is no better time to do so than at Christmas," Prince Charles said, "to remind all of us that the emphasis of the love of neighbor" and the Golden Rule "are the ultimate foundations of truth, justice, compassion and human rights."

More here-

http://www.catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=34&ArticleID=23422

Prince Charles 'Concerned' About Allowing Royals to Marry Catholics

From Christian Post-

Prince Charles expressed concerns over a bill that seeks to change the rules surrounding the Royal line of succession in Britain, saying that allowing royal members to marry Roman Catholics might undermine the Church of England.

The British monarch, who is currently in line to inherit the throne from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has stated that the bill was "rushed" and that it might have "unintended consequences," CBC reported. Only Protestants have been able to serve as king or queen since the signing of the Act of Settlement, passed in 1701.

The bill allows girls who were born before their brothers to keep their place in line to the throne, but it also removed a 300-year-old ban on royals from marrying Roman Catholics. The official British monarch serves as head of the Church of England, but Roman Catholic doctrine dictates that children from such a union would have to be raised in the Catholic tradition, which would constitute a conflict of interest.

Read more at

http://global.christianpost.com/news/prince-charles-concerned-about-allowing-royals-to-marry-catholics-89151/