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...

VATICAN CORNER The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based Papal Foundation is a stellar charity which supports the Holy Father and the Catholic Church in its help of the poor that are mostly in developing countries throughout the world. Beginning in 1988, during the papacy...

VATICAN CORNER Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice, while in their twenties, wrote the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. The musical is sung throughout with no dialogue. Because the producers were afraid to gamble their money on such a different...

VATICAN CORNER For 32 years the solemnity of Easter has been celebrated in Saint Peter’s Square decorated with flowers, plants and trees transported there from the Netherlands. That country is the world’s largest exporter of flowers and has been in charge of the...