“Gift of Mercy,” a shelter for homeless men, is just a few hundred yards away from St. Peter’s Square.
Vatican
For Pilgrims to Rome, Castel Gandolfo Is a Train Ride Away
Pope Francis has been giving real orders to Vatican staff to lift the locks on places and spaces that were long closed to the general public – the latest being the papal summer home in the hilltop town of Castel Gandolfo.
Vatican Sidesteps Flag Flap at United Nations
The Vatican said seeing the flags of the Holy See and Palestine flying with the banners of the 193 full member-countries of the UN is not its desire.
Pope to Study Economy Before Coming to US
Before arriving in the U.S. in September, Pope Francis said, he will study American criticisms of his critiques of the global economy and finance.
Religious Voice Cannot Be Excluded from Public Debate
A society that does not include religious views and challenges in public debate becomes an “enemy of freedom,” said the Vatican’s foreign minister.
Vatican Official Under Investigation
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the head of the Pontifical Council for the Family and lead Vatican organizer of September’s World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, is under investigation by Italian prosecutors for alleged embezzlement.
A Steady Barque
This past week, Rome hosted two very different, but important meetings. The first was at the Vatican, chaired by Pope Francis himself, as a meeting of the Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops. This was a preparatory meeting held to get ready for October’s Synod on the vocation and mission of the family in the Church and Society.
For LCWR, Life Returns to Normal After Vatican Report
The president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious said the organization is pleased to be “going on with our normal life, so to speak.”
The Vatican and Ecology
Dear Editor: It was good to see the front-page coverage (May 9) given to Pope Francis’ eagerly awaited ecology encyclical and to the role Catholic groups are playing in the attempt to protect the environment from climate change and other kinds of degradation; I remember the excellent coverage given to the part religious groups played in the Climate March in New York City last September.
Number of Priests, Deacons Has Continued to Rise
The number of Catholics in the world and the number of priests and permanent deacons rose slightly in 2013, while the number of men and women in religious orders declined, according to Vatican statistics.