A gathering of gentlemen wearing scarlet trimmed black cassocks in the streets of Rome next to the Vatican is a rare site, especially since cardinals tend to stay in their apartments, offices, and vehicles. But in May, 2018 cardinals seemed to be all around, standing...

On June 29, 2018, Pope Francis will create 14 new cardinals and as before, they come from all over the world, including, this time, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, and Poland. Every year, Francis has been selecting new cardinals and many have...

On June 11, 2018, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Juan Barros Madrid from his post as the head of the diocese of Osomo, Chile. Francis also accepted the resignations of two other Chilean bishops who had reached the normal...

Many popes have had good senses of humor. The following are a few quotes from some of them: Pope Saint John XIII said when he was asked how many people work at the Vatican, he said: “About half”. To a young boy whom he was visiting in a hospital who said he either...

There are no schools inside Vatican City for the few children living there, and they a%end schools in the neighboring City of Rome. Vatican schools consist of about 15 Pontifical universities located mostly outside the boundary of Va"can City and also in Rome. They...

On May 10, 2018, Pope Francis visited the small town of Loppiano, Italy, near Florence, where its 850 inhabitants live, but which is also the first international center of the Focolare. an international movement based in Italy that promotes the ideals of unity and...

VATICAN CORNER Making the Sign of the Cross is one of the most common things Catholics do. We make it when we begin and end our prayers, when we enter and leave church, when we start Mass etc., but do we know why? In the Sign of the Cross, we profess the deepest...

VATICAN CORNER Alfie Evans, a British toddler, just weeks short of his second birthday, died April 28, 2018, in Liverpool’s Alder Hey Hospital. He was the son of Kate James, 20, and Tom Evans, 21, and his story touched the hearts of many, including Pope Francis, and...

VATICAN CORNER Although it is common knowledge that nuns are treated like indentured servants by cardinals and bishops for whom they cook and clean for little or no pay, the March 2018 edition of the Vatican magazine: “Women Church World” had the courage to denounce...

VATICAN CORNER In 2002, several Chilean men reported to church authorities that they had been sexually abused in the 1980 and 1990s by Rev. Fernando Karadima. Only after the victims went public in 2010 did the Vatican investigate, which lead to Rev. Karadima’s removal...

VATICAN CORNER Pope Francis grew up in Argentina speaking Spanish and having Italian relatives. His experiences with different cultures and with a wide variety of literature and cinema led to his mastery of metaphor and the ability to use figures of speech and symbols...