Vatican City

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The former monastery on a quiet residential street in Rome once sheltered Jews fearing deportation during World War II. Purchased by the Vatican in 2021 as a dormitory for foreign nuns studying at Rome’s pontifical universities, the building now stands empty, a collateral victim of the latest financial scandal to hit the Holy See.

VATICAN CITY, May 29 (Reuters) - The Vatican urged bishops and high-profile lay Catholic leaders on Monday to tone down their comments on social media, saying some were causing division and stoking polemics that harmed the entire Church.

The appeal was part of a 20-page document by the Vatican's communications department titled, "Towards Full Presence. A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media."

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Two environmental activists told the Vatican’s criminal court on Wednesday they never intended to damage an ancient statue in the Vatican Museums when they glued their hands to its marble base, in one of a series of flash protests across Europe to draw attention to climate change.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s main charitable organization, Caritas Internationalis, is hoping to open a new chapter this week after Pope Francis fired top managers over bullying complaints. But the recently ousted head is fighting back, claiming the Vatican engaged in a “brutal power grab” fueled by a “colonialist” attitude.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis opened a celebration of Mass on Easter Sunday joined by dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square, where spring flowers made the vast space bright. made bright by spring flowers.

Orange-red tulips, yellow sprays of forsythia and daffodils, and other colorful seasonal blooms were transported in trucks from the Netherlands on Saturday and set up in planters to decorate the Vatican square, which quickly filled up Sunday with Rome residents and Holy Week visitors to the city.

VATICAN CITY, Feb 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Vatican and Oman have established diplomatic relations, a joint statement said, three months after a visit by Pope Francis to the Gulf.

There are currently 12 Catholic priests working in four parishes in Oman and the local population of nearly 4.5 million people includes a “significant number of foreign workers”, it said.

The pontiff visited Bahrain in November, his second visit to the Gulf since becoming pope in 2013. His first visit was to the United Arab Emirates in 2019.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday expressed sadness and worry at the news that Roman Catholic Bishop Roland Álvarez, an outspoken critic of the Nicaraguan government, had been sentenced to 26 years in prison in the latest move against the Catholic Church and government opponents.

Álvarez was sentenced Friday, after refusing to get on a flight to the United States with 222 other prisoners, all opponents of President Daniel Ortega. In addition to his prison term, Álvarez was stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Australian cardinal who decried the papacy of Pope Francis as a “catastrophe” was given a funeral Saturday and hailed by some fellow churchmen at St. Peter’s Basilica, with the pontiff imparting a final blessing for the once high-ranking Vatican prelate.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis will deliver a final send-off for Cardinal George Pell during a funeral Mass on Saturday, the Vatican said, as revelations emerge of the Australian prelate’s growing concern about what he considered the “disaster” and “catastrophe” of the papacy under Francis.

The Vatican on Thursday said the dean of the college of cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, would celebrate Pell’s funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. As is custom for cardinal funerals, Francis will deliver a final commendation and salute.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s “acute and gentle thought” as he presided over a packed Wednesday general audience in the Vatican, while thousands of people paid tribute to the former pope on the final day of public viewing in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Francis was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd in the Paul VI auditorium and shouts of “Viva il papa!” or “Long live the pope” as he arrived for his weekly catechism appointment with the faithful.