News of vatican

Pope marks 10 years with podcast and a diplomatic row

13-03-2023 13:21 Pope Francis marked 10 years as head of the Catholic Church on Monday with a podcast, a private mass and a series of interviews, one of which triggered a diplomatic spat with Nicaragua.

Nicaragua weighs cutting diplomatic ties with the Vatican

13-03-2023 10:57 Nicaragua says it is considering suspending diplomatic ties with the Vatican, after Pope Francis days earlier called the Central American country's government a "crude dictatorship." 

Key dates in Pope Francis' 10-year pontificate

12-03-2023 09:01 Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and Latin American pope, on Monday marks 10 years as the head of the Catholic Church.

Pebbles in the shoes of the fisherman

11-03-2023 03:16 Even if Jorge Bergoglio was actively encouraging slum priests at grass roots level from the start, he was doing good by stealth while his media splashes largely served to perpetuate the conservative image of the hierarchy.

by Michael Soltys

Pope: ‘Bad policies’ to blame for Argentina’s poverty and inflation

25-01-2023 14:46 Insisting that he is “not doing politics,” Pope Francis uses an interview to criticise high poverty levels and runaway inflation in his homeland, pointing the finger at “bad policies.”

Catholic controversy over two popes in the Vatican

31-12-2022 09:13 Shock retirement in 2013 of pope Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday aged 95, raised serious questions within the Church about the extent to which there could be two "men in white" at the Vatican.

Pope warns Argentina of dangers of ‘aggressive polarisation’

04-10-2022 10:07 Pontiff sends letter to the Archbishop of La Plata, declaring that "there is much to be done" in Argentina so that "everyone can live from the dignity of work and that there are no second-class citizens."

In first, Pope names three women to Dicastery for Bishops

13-07-2022 14:00 Pontiff names two nuns and a laywoman, Argentine María Lia Zervino, to the Vatican department that helps choose new bishops – the first time women have been allowed to serve on the body.

With Ukraine, Vatican balances diplomacy and inter-faith ties

21-03-2022 08:35 The Vatican has long played global mediator but has struggled to make its mark in the Ukraine conflict.

Pope visits Russian embassy to express "concern about the war" in Ukraine

25-02-2022 23:48 Pope Francis visited the Russian Embassy in the Holy See on Friday, making an unusual gesture to express his “concern about the war” in Ukraine.

Fewer Catholics in Europe, more in Africa, Americas

21-10-2021 10:49 The Catholic Church continues to lose followers in Europe, but numbers are booming in Africa and the Americas, according to figures released by the Vatican on Thursday.

'Massive' child sex abuse in French Catholic Church, inquiry finds

05-10-2021 12:17 French Catholic clergy sexually abused around 216,000 minors spanning seven decades since 1950, a "massive phenomenon" that was covered up by a "veil of silence," an independent commission said Tuesday.

Pope Francis undergoes colon operation, confirms Vatican

04-07-2021 20:55 Pontiff admitted to Rome's Gemelli University Hospital "for a scheduled surgery for symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon," informs Vatican statement.

Blinken meets Pope Francis, speaks to Vatican on Venezuela

28-06-2021 15:07 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discusses crisis-torn Venezuela with Argentine pontiff during meeting at the Vatican.

Fernández says he wants new IMF deal ‘as quickly as possible’

15-05-2021 11:18 President holds 'positive' talks with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva in Rome, rounding off week-long European tour.

President Fernández holds 'positive' talks with IMF chief in Rome

14-05-2021 14:16 President Alberto Fernández said Friday he was hoping to renegotiate Argentina's debt "as quickly as possible," after talks with the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Rome.

Pope Francis tightens Vatican's anti-corruption rules

29-04-2021 12:00 Pope Francis on Thursday announced new anti-corruption rules for top officials as part of his drive to clean up the Vatican following a series of scandals.

Pope Francis urges vaccines for poor in Easter message

04-04-2021 09:04 Pope Francis urged Catholics to remain hopeful in his Easter Sunday address, calling vaccines an "essential tool" in ending the pandemic and urging their swift rollout to the world's poorest countries.