Vatican Corner 1-4-15
In 2015, the Vatican is planning to conduct public tours of the working farm at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence. The estate is about 1.25 times the size of the Vatican and located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Rome. At the request of Pope...
Vatican Corner 12-28-14
The unit of measurement that man has historically used to measure short periods of time is the day, one revolution of the earth about its axis. For longer periods of time, the year is used, one revolution of the earth around the sun. The year is not a whole number of...
Vatican Corner 12-21-14
Christmas trees are not really an Italian tradition, but are starting to become more popular in Italy. Some shops, hotels, and restaurants display small trees and decorations are usually fairly simple, often just lights. In addition to the always grand tree at the...
Vatican Corner 12-14-14
On Sept. 20, 2014 Pope Francis named Bishop Blase Cupich, 65, to be the new archbishop of Chicago. Before this appointment he was the Bishop of Spokane, Washington, and he is considered a āmoderateā within the Church. But when asked about āmoderateā, he said āI am...
Vatican Corner 12-7-14
On November 31, 2014 Pope Francis concluded a three-day trip to the cities of Ankara and Istanbul in Turkey. The trip was primarily to meet again with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of over 250 million Orthodox Christians, whose Church broke away from...
Vatican Corner 11-29-14
In Early October 2014, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, the Papal Almoner, the head of the department that distributes charity on behalf of the Pope, was talking to Franco a homeless man from Sardinia and found out that it was his 50th birthday. The man had been living on...
Vatican Corner 11-23-14
Vatican Corner Practically every continent has some version ofĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Thanksgiving, from Africa's Kwanzaa, India's Pongal to China's August Moon Festival. Each of these culturesĀ Ā Ā Ā celebrates the end of the harvest with a shared feast of the bounty. In Italy many...