VATICAN CORNER Continued…Sometimes living things get classified not according to their biology, but instead get classified for convenience or for financial reasons. An example is the tomato, which grows from a flowering plant and contains seeds, which makes it by...

VATICAN CORNER The week of March 26th, 2017 saw some startling news stories come out of the Vatican. According to a Vatican spokesman, the idea of constructing a 600 foot diameter Ferris wheel in St. Peter’s Square is being seriously considered. Its purpose will be to...

VATICAN CORNER Historically, the Catholic Church has observed the disciplines of fasting and abstinence at various times each year. Fasting is the reduction in the intake of food, while abstinence is the refraining from a particular food, like meat. The Church teaches...

VATICAN CORNER Sexual abuse survivor Marie Collins of Ireland, resigned March 1, 2017 from her position on Pope Francis’ Commission for the Protection of Minors. The Commission was set up to help improve measures within the Catholic Church to protect children against...

VATICAN CORNER Pope Francis spoke to 140 leaders at the assembly of the Superior Generals of male religious organizations and congregations, on November 25, 2016. The text of that conversation was published Feb. 9, 2017. In an unscripted question and answer session...

VATICAN CORNER Continued…Pope Francis saw first-hand the mafia side of the Order of the Knights of Malta when in 2008 senior Knights made a failed attempt to remove him as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and replace him with a bishop who was the Knight’s chaplain in...

VATICAN CORNER continued… Today the Order of the Knights of Malta have only “obedience” as a vow. As of the 1990s officers are no longer drawn solely from Europe’s nobility. Their motto has always been “Defense of the (Catholic) faith and assistance to the poor.”...

VATICAN CORNER Residents of Rome awoke Saturday February 4, 2017 to find dozens of posters on the walls of their city showing a scowling Pope Francis. The posters read “Ah Francis, you’ve taken over congregations, removed priests, decapitated the Order of Malta and...

VATICAN CORNER A van departs every morning from Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican’s lakeside palace and farm, 12 miles south of Rome. At the Castel there are terraced vegetable gardens producing everything from artichokes and bell peppers to carrots and zucchini. A herd of...

VATICAN CORNER On January 4, 2017, McDonalds’s restaurants opened a franchise just steps away from the gleaming white marble dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, angering Catholic Cardinals and local business owners. The new restaurant is in a popular tourist area just...

VATICAN CORNER On March 13, 2017 Pope Francis will be beginning his fifth year as Pope and entering it with good health. The Jubilee of Mercy was a very active year for him and 2017 is promising to be active as well. So far as Pope he has made 17 foreign trips and...

VATICAN CORNER The newborn  children of Vatican employees were  baptized by Pope Francis on Sunday  January 8, 2017 in the Sistine Chapel  during the annual Mass celebrating the  Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.  During the Christmas season, this Mass is  one of...