Latest Vatican City News
Ruins of ancient garden likely owned by Emperor Caligula uncovered near Vatican during excavations
ROME (AP) — Archaeological excavations near the Vatican uncovered the remains of an ancient garden overlooking the right bank of the Tiber River that was likely owned by Roman Emperor Caligula, Italy’s culture ministry said Thursday. The discovery was made during construction...
Vatican chief of staff testifies in UK finance trial, admits to false invoice and blames a deputy
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis’ chief of staff became one of the highest-ranking Holy See officials to testify in a foreign court Thursday, telling a British tribunal about the negotiations at the heart of the Vatican’s so-called “trial of the century,” admitting he filed a false invoice and...
Mosaics by an artist accused of abusing women will stay on the Lourdes shrine, for now
ROME (AP) — A French bishop has put off any decision on whether to remove mosaics by an ex-Jesuit artist accused of abusing women, saying that they’ll stay for now on the Lourdes shrine but that eventually they should be removed. The mosaics will no longer be lit up each night...
Vandals behead a controversial sculpture of Mary giving birth to Jesus in an Austrian cathedral
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Vandals have beheaded a sculpture featuring the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus that had been exhibited in the cathedral in the Austrian city of Linz and drawn criticism from some Catholics who said it was blasphemous. The sculpture had been on view at the St....
10 Ukrainians held prisoner for years in Russia return home after Vatican mediation
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ten Ukrainian civilians held prisoner for years by Russia arrived in Kyiv overnight Saturday after the mediation of the Vatican, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. They were freed Friday. Some had been captured years before Russia’s full-scale...
Pope's top adviser, women who say they were abused by ex-Jesuit artist ask for mosaics to be removed
ROME (AP) — The scandal over a famous ex-Jesuit artist who is accused of psychologically, spiritually and sexually abusing adult women came to a head Friday after some of his alleged victims and the pope’s own anti-abuse adviser asked for his artworks not to be promoted or displayed. ...
The Vatican stands trial in London as a British financier seeks to clear his name in a property deal
ROME (AP) — The Vatican went on trial in a London court Wednesday, as a British financier sought to recover from the harm he said he suffered to his reputation as a result of a Vatican investigation into its 350 million euro (around $375 million) investment in a London property. It...
A Vatican Radio territory in north Rome once blamed for electro-smog will become a solar farm
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis decreed Wednesday that an area of northern Rome, long the source of controversy because of electromagnetic waves emitted by Vatican Radio towers there, will now house a field of solar panels to fuel Vatican City. Citing the Vatican’s pledge in U.N....
The Vatican appoints Pope Benedict's longtime secretary as its envoy to the Baltic states
BERLIN (AP) — Pope Francis has appointed the longtime secretary of the late Pope Benedict XVI, who was sent back to his native Germany without a new assignment last year after he fell out with the current pontiff, as the Vatican's diplomatic representative to the Baltic states. The...
The former nuncio to the US says he faces schism charges from the Vatican
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s former nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, said on Thursday that he has been summoned by the Vatican to face charges of schism. The archbishop posted the two-page decree from the Vatican’s Dicastry for the Doctrine of...
