Vatican

Pope Francis delivers the Urbi and Orbi ("To the City and To the World") prayer in an empty St. Peter's Square Friday evening.

Pope Francis Delivers Special Prayer For End To Coronavirus Pandemic

4:54pm March 27, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

The "Urbi et Orbi" blessing is normally delivered at Christmas and Easter. The delivered his homily against the dramatic backdrop of an empty St. Peter's Square, glistening in the rain.

An attendant opens the section of the Vatican archive dedicated to Pope Pius XII on Thursday. The March 2 unsealing of the archives of Pope Pius XII, the controversial World War II-era pontiff whose papacy lasted from 1939 to 1958, has been awaited for de

Vatican Opens Archives Of World War II-Era Pope Pius XII

2:44pm March 02, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

After decades of pressure from historians and Jewish groups, the Vatican on Monday began allowing scholars to access the archives of Pope Pius XII, who remained publicly silent during the Holocaust.

Queue Listen Now

Pope Francis shares a meal with guests and volunteers of the "Palace of the Poor."

World News

Pope Francis Turned A Vatican Palazzo Into 'Palace Of The Poor' For Homeless People

1:49pm February 07, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

"If you sleep on the ground covered in cardboard and have to wake up at 5 a.m. before the police come to shove you away, and then you find a place like this, what more do you want?" a new guest says.

Queue Listen Now

Pope Francis, who delivered a blessing earlier this month at St. Peter's Square, has appointed a woman to a senior diplomatic position.

World News

In Rare Move, Pope Francis Appoints A Woman To A Senior Vatican Position

3:24pm January 15, 2020

by Merrit Kennedy

Francesca Di Giovanni is the first woman to have a managerial role in the Secretariat of State, one of the most important departments in the Vatican. She has been working there for 27 years.

The 20-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a boat loaded with refugees and migrants is the work of Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz. Its bread-and-fruit motif encapsulates how food is interlocked with the history of human migration.

How One Small Bag Of Food On A Giant Sculpture Tells A Million Immigrant Tales

2:49pm December 10, 2019

by Nina Martyris

The theme of the work in the Vatican's St. Peter's Square is welcoming strangers. "The bag is a metaphor for nourishment ... the idea of bringing something to the table," says artist Timothy Schmalz.

Pope Francis, pictured earlier this week, unveiled a new mandatory-reporting edict on Friday. It requires any Vatican official who learns of an allegation of abuse within the city-state or by Vatican officials to report it to Vatican prosecutors.

Pope Issues New Edict Requiring Vatican Officials To Report Sex Abuse Allegations

8:53pm March 29, 2019

by Vanessa Romo

Applicable only to Vatican personnel and diplomats around the world, it is the first unified policy for the protection of children and vulnerable adults. But critics say it doesn't go far enough.

"The Vatican is a world of men; some truly are men of God," says Sister Catherine Aubin, a French Dominican nun who teaches at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome. "Others have been ruined by power. The key to these secrets and silence is ...

After Years Of Abuse By Priests, #NunsToo Are Speaking Out

11:29am March 18, 2019

by Sylvia Poggioli

A #NunsToo movement has emerged from #MeToo, as Roman Catholic nuns start speaking out about sexual abuse by priests. Cases of rape and forced abortion have begun coming to light.

Queue Listen Now

Cardinal George Pell, seen earlier this month, has been sentenced to six years in prison by a Melbourne, Australia, court for the sexual abuse of two children more than 20 years ago.

Cardinal George Pell, Former Vatican Official, Sentenced To 6 Years In Prison

9:18pm March 12, 2019

by Vanessa Romo

He had been convicted of sexually abusing two choir boys in Melbourne, Australia, two decades ago. He is 77 and will be eliglble for parole in three years and eight months.

Pope Francis celebrated a final Mass on Sunday to conclude his unprecedented summit of Catholic leaders on clergy sexual abuse.

Pope Calls For 'All-Out-Battle' On Clergy Sex Abuse, With Few Specifics

4:15pm February 24, 2019

by Francesca Paris

At the end of his four-day summit, Pope Francis called priests who had abused minors "instruments of Satan." But critics said his address did not offer a strong enough message against clergy abuse.

A mass for a canonization ceremony of Pope Paul VI and the martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, as well as five other people, was in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, on Sunday.

Religion

Oscar Romero, Pope Paul VI Elevated To Sainthood

10:40am October 14, 2018

by Camila Domonoske

In a ceremony at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, Pope Francis declared the sainthood of the murdered Salvadoran archbishop, the former pontiff and five other people.