Latest Vatican City News
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...
Defendant in Vatican trial takes case to UN, accuses pope of violating his rights with surveillance
NEW YORK (AP) — One of the defendants in the Vatican’s big financial trial has filed a formal complaint with the United Nations, alleging that Pope Francis violated his human rights by authorizing wide-ranging surveillance during the investigation. A lawyer for Raffaele...
Pope Francis meets more than 100 comedians at the Vatican: 'You also make God smile'
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Before flying to Italy's southern Puglia region to meet world leaders at the Group of Seven summit, Pope Francis hosted a very different audience at the Vatican on Friday celebrating the importance of humor. The pontiff welcomed more than 100 comedians from 15...
Pope recreates the 2014 Mideast peace prayer in Vatican Gardens to beg for an end to Gaza conflict
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis gathered the Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors to the Vatican Gardens on Friday to pray for an end to the war in Gaza, marking the 10th anniversary of a similar encounter with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents with a new appeal for peace. “Every...
Today in History: June 7, Supreme Court rejects contraceptive ban in Griswold v. Connecticut
Today in History Today is Friday, June 7, the 159th day of 2024. There are 207 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On June 7, 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut, struck down, 7-2, a Connecticut law used to...
Vatican detains ex-employee who allegedly tried to sell back manuscript of Bernini's basilica canopy
ROME (AP) — Vatican police have detained a former employee on charges of attempted extortion after he allegedly tried to sell a 17th-century gilded manuscript describing Bernini’s designs for the altar canopy of St. Peter’s Basilica back to the Holy See. Vatican prosecutors...