The Vatican Bank or (IOR) is a comparatively recent institution, but its roots can be traced back to 1887 when Pope Leo XIII would keep the gold coins of the Vatican’s operating capital in a trunk under his bed. Today this private Bank’s customers are mostly all part...

The Vatican’s Institute of Works for Religion (IOR) also known as the Vatican Bank is a private bank in Vatican City. It is located in a medieval tower that once was a dungeon. At the entrance you are checked by two Swiss Guards, pass through a two-door security kiosk...

On January 23, 2021, the Vigil of the Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers and journalists, Pope Francis issued a new warning about misinformation being spread on social media. He wrote that “we have known for some time that news and even...

The Vatican announced on January 13, 2021 that Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI have received their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and that the Vatican’s program of vaccinations has begun. The program is entirely voluntary and the vaccine being offered...

The Virgin Mary our Blessed Mother has had a special presence in the Americas for over five hundred years. Christopher Columbus named his flagship the Santa Maria. The Spanish and French missionaries, who came along with the explorers introduced Mary to the native...

Most historians agree that the early Christians did not use lighted candles, torches or lamps during ceremonies for the first 3 centuries. They tried to avoid anything that might resemble the way Romans used lamps in their sacrificial rituals. But in the 4th century...

In a new book entitled “Let Us Dream: The Path to A Better Future,” Pope Francis avoids complex discussions of church doctrine and theology and instead tells stories from his own life, and gives his views on the crises facing the world, from the coronavirus, the...

In his new Apostolic Letter, Pope Francis describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender, loving, father, a father obedient to God, an accepting, and creatively courageous father, a working father, and a father in the shadows. The Pope’s letter was written...

Everything known about Saint Joseph the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary comes from Scripture, and it is not a lot. The Gospels from Luke and Matthew both say Joseph was a descendant of David, the greatest king of Israel. The angel that first tells Joseph about...

At the Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square on Dec.6, 2020, Pope Francis said there is no pandemic or crisis that can turn off the light of Christmas. Referencing the Vatican’s recently erected Christmas tree and the Nativity Scene that is soon to be assembled,...

Knelling before Pope Francis, one by one, at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica on November 28, 2020, eleven of thirteen senior churchmen, including two U.S. citizens, received their red biretta hat, cardinal ring and scroll, becoming new members of the...

The long awaited report, that was authorized by Pope Francis, about the defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, treated Francis rather lightly. The report explained that Francis assumed that his predecessors had made the correct judgments about McCarrick, and that...