Pope Benedict XVI’s aide acknowledges criticism over memoir
March 19, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — The longtime secretary to Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged Sunday that his tell-all memoir, published in the days after Benedict’s death, had been criticized for casting Pope Francis in an unfavorable light, but insisted that some of the polemics were more about anti-Benedict prejudice than anything else.
Pope offers prayer for earthquake victims in Ecuador, Peru
March 19, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis offered prayers Sunday for the victims of an earthquake that shook vast swaths of territory in Ecuador and parts of Peru.
During his weekly Sunday noon blessing, Francis recalled that the 6.8-magnitude temblor caused “death, injuries and heavy damage.”
Pope promotes ‘humanitarian corridors’ for asylum-seekers
March 18, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met Saturday with thousands of refugees and charity groups hosting them in Italy as he sought to promote legal migration routes to Europe as an alternative to smuggling operations that he said have turned the Mediterranean Sea into a “cemetery.”
Pope to visit Hungary in April, migration and war on agenda
February 27, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis will visit Hungary at the end of April, the Vatican said Monday, in a trip expected to focus on migration to Europe and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The April 28-30 trip to Budapest represents a proper state visit after Francis made a brief, hours-long stopover in 2021 to close out a church conference.
Pope nationalizes Vatican assets, property in new reform
February 23, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis has essentially nationalized all assets and property owned by Vatican departments and affiliated institutions, declaring them to be sovereign patrimony owned by the Holy See and not any individual or office.
Pope cancels an appointment, some speeches due to bad cold
February 23, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis canceled one audience and skipped speeches he was set to deliver Thursday because of a bad cold, the Vatican said.
Francis, 86, did meet with young Orthodox priests and monks and members of the Max Planck Society, the German research organization that is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
Pope at Lent’s start: end ‘dictatorship’ of the superficial
February 22, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis ushered in the annual Christian Lenten period of sacrifice and reflection by encouraging people on Ash Wednesday to cast off what he called the “dictatorship” of heavy agendas and superficial needs.
Pope intervenes again to restrict celebration of Latin Mass
February 21, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis has intervened for the third time to crack down on the celebration of the old Latin Mass, a sign of continued friction with Catholic traditionalists.
Abrahamic House in UAE houses a church, synagogue and mosque
February 21, 2023 GMTABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — On the shores of the Persian Gulf, a new complex houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Jesuit barred from artistic activity after new abuse claims
February 21, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis' Jesuit religious order has decided to prohibit a prominent Jesuit artist whose mosaics decorate churches around the globe from pursuing his artistic activity after 15 more people came forward with fresh accusations against him of spiritual, sexual and psychological abuse.
Detectives treating Los Angeles bishop’s death as homicide
February 20, 2023 GMTLOS ANGELES (AP) — A Catholic bishop in Southern California was shot and killed Saturday just blocks from a church, a slaying of a longtime priest hailed as a “peacemaker” that's stunned the Los Angeles religious community, authorities said.
Pope Francis underlines that papacy is a lifetime post
February 16, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis has made clear in comments published Thursday by a Jesuit journal that he believes being pope is a lifetime position and that Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation was an exception.
Pope worried about Nicaraguan bishop sentenced to 26 years
February 13, 2023 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday expressed sadness and worry at the news that Bishop Rolando Álvarez, an outspoken critic of the Nicaraguan government, had been sentenced to 26 years in prison.
Vatican touts new memoir by Benedict XVI’s 2nd secretary
February 9, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Retired Pope Benedict XVI’s second secretary came out with a new memoir Thursday, a light, photo-filled daily journal that sharply contrasts with the bombshell tell-all book published last month by the late German pope’s main assistant.
Pope seeks release of Cubans arrests during 2021 protests
February 8, 2023 GMTHAVANA (AP) — Pope Francis hopes Cuban authorities will release and grant amnesty to people arrested and sentenced after the historic protests that took place in 2021, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, who traveled to the island as the pontiff’s special envoy, said Wednesday.
Pope, Anglican, Presbyterian leaders denounce anti-gay laws
February 6, 2023 GMTABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis was backed by the ceremonial head of the Anglican Communion and top Presbyterian minister in calling for gays to be welcomed by their churches as he again decried laws that criminalize homosexuality as unjust.
Pope makes final bid for peace, forgiveness in South Sudan
February 6, 2023 GMTJUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Pope Francis made a final appeal for peace in South Sudan on Sunday as he celebrated Mass before tens of thousands of people to close out an unusual mission by Christian religious leaders to nudge forward the country’s recovery from civil war.
Pope accuses critics of exploiting Pope Benedict XVI’s death
February 5, 2023 GMTABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis accused some of his critics Sunday of taking advantage of retired Pope Benedict XVI’s death to score ideological points in the latest salvo in the partisan divide of the Catholic Church.
Pope planning India, Mongolia trips after Lisbon, Marseille
February 5, 2023 GMTABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis said Sunday he is planning to visit India next year and is studying a possible trip to Mongolia later in 2023 in what would be a first for a pope.
Francis outlined his upcoming travel schedule during his flight back to Rome from South Sudan.
Pope says South Sudan’s future depends on treatment of women
February 4, 2023 GMTJUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Pope Francis warned Saturday that South Sudan’s future depends on how it treats its women, as he highlighted their horrific plight in a country where sexual violence is rampant, child brides are common and the maternal mortality rate is the highest in the world.
AP-Week in Pictures: Global / Jan. 28 - Feb.3, 2023
February 3, 2023 GMTJan. 28 - Feb.3, 2023
From worshippers gathering at an airport in Congo for a Mass with Pope Francis, to protesters marching over the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by police in Memphis, Tennessee, this photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images from around the world made or published by The Associated Press in the past week.
Pope in South Sudan warns leaders as peace process stalls
February 3, 2023 GMTJUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Pope Francis, on a novel ecumenical peace mission to the world’s youngest country, warned South Sudan’s political leaders on Friday that history will judge them harshly if they continue to drag their feet implementing a 2018 peace accord.
Pope urges Congo youth to reject corruption and they respond
February 2, 2023 GMTKINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Pope Francis led Congo’s young people in a rousing denunciation of political corruption on Thursday, turning an otherwise scripted meeting with church catechists into a rally that shook the capital’s sports stadium.
Pope consoles Congolese victims: ‘Your pain is my pain’
February 2, 2023 GMTKINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Congo’s people to forgive those who committed “inhuman violence” against them, celebrating a Mass for 1 million people and then hearing firsthand of the atrocities some of them have endured: a teenage girl “raped like an animal” for months; a young man who watched as his father was decapitated; a former sex slave who was forced into cannibalism.
In Congo, activists look to Pope to boost forest protections
February 1, 2023 GMTLocal climate activists in Congo are hoping Pope Francis' visit will help spur action to protect the country's rainforest from oil and gas interests.
‘Hands off Africa!’: Pope blasts foreign plundering of Congo
January 31, 2023 GMTKINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Pope Francis demanded Tuesday that foreign powers stop plundering Africa’s natural resources for the “poison of their own greed” as he arrived in Congo to a raucous welcome by Congolese grateful he was focusing the world’s attention on their forgotten plight.
Pope taps Chicago native in Peru to lead bishops’ office
January 30, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) —
Pope Francis on Monday named an American-born missionary in Peru, Bishop Robert Francis Prevost, to take over the Vatican’s powerful bishops’ office from the retiring Canadian who has recently been accused of sexual misconduct.
‘He’s close to us’: Wheelchair users in Africa await pope
January 28, 2023 GMTGOMA, Congo (AP) — When Pope Francis arrives in Congo and South Sudan next week, thousands of people will take special note of a gesture more grounded than the sign of the cross. Watching from their wheelchairs, they will relate to the way he uses his.
Pope clarifies homosexuality and sin comments in note
January 28, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis has clarified his recent comments about homosexuality and sin, saying he was merely referring to official Catholic moral teaching that teaches that any sexual act outside of marriage is a sin.
The AP Interview takeaways: Pope decries expanding gun use
January 25, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis lamented that the use of guns by civilians to defend themselves is becoming a “habit.”
The AP Interview: Pope says homosexuality not a crime
January 25, 2023 GMTPope discusses his health, his critics and future of papacy
January 25, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says he hasn’t considered issuing norms to regulate future papal resignations and plans to continue for as long as he can as bishop of Rome, despite a wave of criticism from some top-ranking conservative cardinals and bishops about his papal priorities.
Pope warns German church reform process elitist, ideological
January 25, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has warned there’s a risk that a reform process in the German Catholic Church over calls for married priests and other possible liberalizing reforms might become harmfully “ideological.”
Pope opens up on sex abuse cases, says church must do more
January 25, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has shed light on the Catholic Church’s handling of sex abuse allegations against East Timor’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning independence hero, suggesting that he indeed was allowed to retire early rather than face prosecution or punishment.
Pope makes plea for end of violence, start of talks in Peru
January 22, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday made an impassioned plea, delivered partly in Spanish, for an end to widening violence in Peru over demands for the resignation of the country's president.
Cardinal says book by Benedict XVI’s secretary ‘unseemly’
January 19, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — The archbishop of Vienna, a longtime friend and former student of Pope Benedict XVI, has confirmed that it was he who wrote a letter to his former teacher urging him to accept election as pontiff in 2005 if the votes went his way.
Cardinal Pell will be interred in Sydney crypt in February
January 17, 2023 GMTSYDNEY (AP) — A once high-ranking Australian cardinal who spent more than a year in prison before his child abuse convictions were quashed on appeal will be interred Feb. 2 after a requiem Mass at Sydney’s St.
Pope, ahead of Congo visit, sends prayers for church bombing
January 17, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Tuesday sent his condolences to the victims of a bombing on a Pentecostal church in eastern Congo, an attack claimed by Islamic militants two weeks before the pontiff is due to arrive in the country.
Pope invites all Christians to event in St. Peter’s Square
January 15, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday invited Christians of all dominations to gather in prayer in St. Peter’s Square in September to help further the cause of Christian unity.
Speaking during his weekly window appearance to people gathered in the Vatican City square, Francis announced that an ecumenical prayer would take place Sept.
Vatican holds funeral for cardinal who decried Francis’ rule
January 14, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — The Australian cardinal who decried the papacy of Pope Francis as a “catastrophe” was given a funeral Saturday and hailed by some fellow churchmen at St.
‘Catastrophe’: Cardinal Pell’s secret memo blasts Francis
January 12, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis will deliver a final send-off for Cardinal George Pell during a funeral Mass on Saturday, the Vatican said, as revelations emerge of the Australian prelate’s growing concern about what he considered the “disaster” and “catastrophe” of the papacy under Francis.
Pope honors Cardinal George Pell, divisive Australian cleric
January 11, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday paid tribute to Cardinal George Pell, who spent 404 days in solitary confinement in his native Australia before his child sex convictions were overturned, praising his diligence in reforming the Vatican’s finances and his faith “even in the hour of trial.”
Cardinal Pell, whose convictions were overturned, dies at 81
January 11, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Cardinal George Pell, a onetime financial adviser to Pope Francis who spent 404 days in solitary confinement in his native Australia on child sex abuse charges before his convictions were overturned, died Tuesday in Rome.
Italy’s Meloni makes first state visit to meet with Francis
January 10, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who came to power on a campaign motto of “God, Family, Fatherland” made her first official visit to see Pope Francis on Tuesday, fulfilling what she said was a hoped-for opportunity to better understand the Argentine pontiff.
Pope denounces Iran death penalty following protests
January 9, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday broke his silence on the nationwide protests convulsing Iran, denouncing the recourse to the death penalty there and seemingly legitimizing the rallies as demonstrations “demanding greater respect for the dignity of women.”
Pope meets with Benedict’s aide amid revelations in new book
January 9, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis met on Monday with Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the longtime secretary of Pope Benedict XVI who was a key figure in his recent funeral but who has raised eyebrows with an extraordinary memoir in which he settles old scores, reveals palace intrigues and casts Francis in a deeply unfavorable light.
Public now can see Benedict’s tomb at St. Peter’s Basilica
January 8, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — The public can now visit the tomb of Pope Benedict XVI in the grottoes under St. Peter’s Basilica.
The pontiff was buried on Jan. 5 immediately following a funeral in St. Peter’s Square.
Faithful mourn Benedict XVI at funeral presided over by pope
January 5, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis joined tens of thousands of faithful in bidding farewell to Benedict XVI at a rare requiem Mass Thursday for a dead pope presided over by a living one, ending an unprecedented decade for the Catholic Church that was triggered by the German theologian’s decision to retire.
AP PHOTOS: Mosaic of mourners bids farewell to Benedict XVI
January 5, 2023 GMTOne pope laid to rest another Thursday in an extraordinary ceremony at the Vatican as the Catholic faithful bade farewell to Benedict XVI, who resigned the papacy a decade ago.
Some 200,000 turn out over 3 days to view Benedict’s body
January 4, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s “acute and gentle thought” during a Wednesday general audience in the Vatican, as tens of thousands of admirers of the retired pontiff filed by his body lying in state in Peter’s Basilica on the final day of viewing.
US bishops’ rifts unlikely to ease after Benedict’s death
January 4, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Many of the conservative prelates who dominate the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were appointed by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. His recent death deprives them of a symbolic figurehead but is unlikely to weaken their collective power or end the culture wars that have divided the USCCB, according to Catholic academics and clergy.
Hong Kong allows Cardinal Zen to attend Benedict’s funeral
January 4, 2023 GMTHONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s outspoken Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen was allowed to leave the southern Chinese city to pay his respects to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in Vatican City, his secretary said Tuesday.
An account of Benedict’s papacy to be sealed in his coffin
January 3, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — A written account of the history-making papacy of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be placed alongside his body in his coffin for burial, the Vatican said Tuesday in revealing plans for the first funeral of a pontiff to resign in six centuries.
Benedict aide’s tell-all book will expose ‘dark maneuvers’
January 2, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s longtime personal secretary has written a tell-all book that his publisher on Monday promised would tell the truth about the “blatant calumnies,” “dark maneuvers,” mysteries and scandals that sullied the reputation of a pontiff best known for his historic resignation.
‘Lord, I love you’: Aide recounts Benedict’s last words
January 1, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s last words were “Lord, I love you,” his longtime secretary said Sunday, quoting a nurse who helped care for the 95-year-old former pontiff in his final hours.
Benedict death paves way for protocols to guide future popes
January 1, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — There was no tolling of the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica, no solemn announcement by a Vatican monsignor to the faithful in the square. A fisherman’s ring did not get smashed and the diplomatic corps were not mobilized to send official delegations to Rome.
While blamed, Benedict fought sex abuse more than past popes
January 1, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is rightly credited with having been one of the 20th century’s most prolific Catholic theologians, a teacher-pope who preached the faith via volumes of books, sermons and speeches.
Highlights from the life of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
December 31, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died. Here are highlights from his life.
April 16, 1927: Born Joseph Alois Ratzinger in Marktl am Inn, Germany, youngest of three children to Joseph and Maria Ratzinger.
Benedict’s lasting mark on papacy will be his resignation
December 31, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had a long and illustrious career as one of the Roman Catholic Church’s pre-eminent theologians. For all his accomplishments and accolades, however, Benedict will forever be known as the first pope in 600 years to resign.
Live Updates | Reactions to Pope Benedict XVI’s death
December 31, 2022 GMTThe latest on the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:
OTTAWA — The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has remembered Pope Benedict XVI for his work in dealing with abuse by members of the clergy and for reaching out to Indigenous people affected by residential schools.
Pope Francis grateful for ‘noble’ Benedict and his prayers
December 31, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Hours after the death Saturday of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Pope Francis praised his “noble” predecessor and expressed gratitude for his life of faith and prayers, especially those offered in the nearly 10 years since the shy churchman dramatically became the first pontiff in centuries to retire from the papacy.
Benedict XVI, first pope to resign in 600 years, dies at 95
December 31, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the shy German theologian who tried to reawaken Christianity in a secularized Europe but will forever be remembered as the first pontiff in 600 years to resign from the job, died Saturday.
Benedict XVI, reluctant pope who chose to retire, dies at 95
December 31, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — He was the reluctant pope, a shy bookworm who preferred solitary walks in the Alps and Mozart piano concertos to the public glare and majesty of Vatican pageantry. When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI and was thrust into the footsteps of his beloved and charismatic predecessor, he said he felt a guillotine had come down on him.
Benedict XVI, first pope to retire in 600 years, dies at 95
December 31, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the shy German theologian who tried to reawaken Christianity in a secularized Europe but will forever be remembered as the first pontiff in 600 years to resign from the job, died Saturday.
Benedict’s resignation sparked calls for retirement protocol
December 31, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — If ever there was a moment that embodied the surreal novelty created by the first papal resignation in 600 years, it came on the morning of March 23, 2013: Newly elected Pope Francis had traveled to the papal summer retreat south of Rome and was greeted on the helipad by the previous pope, Benedict XVI, who had moved there three weeks earlier.
Vatican: Benedict in stable condition, participated in Mass
December 30, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was in stable condition Friday after suffering a decline in his health and participated in a private Mass in his room, the Vatican said, as the faithful in Rome honored “this last stretch of his pilgrimage.”
Vatican: Benedict XVI lucid, stable, but condition ‘serious’
December 29, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is lucid, alert and stable but his condition remains serious, the Vatican said Thursday, a day after it revealed that the 95-year-old's health had deteriorated recently.
Vatican says health of retired pope Benedict XVI ‘worsening’
December 28, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI 's health has worsened over the past hours due to advanced age and doctors are constantly monitoring his condition, the Vatican said Wednesday, as Pope Francis appealed to the faithful to pray for his “very ill” predecessor “until the end.”
Retired pope’s ailing health raises questions of what’s next
December 28, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — The Vatican has detailed rituals and procedures to follow when a pope dies, but it has not published such rules for a pope emeritus. As a result, official word Wednesday that the health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had worsened prompted questions about what happens if and when he dies.
Pope’s lament: Icy winds of war buffet humanity at Christmas
December 25, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to lament the "icy winds of war” buffeting humanity and to make an impassioned plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, a 10-month-old conflict he decried as “senseless.”
Pope on Christmas: Jesus was poor, so don’t be power-hungry
December 24, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Recalling Jesus’ birth in a stable, Pope Francis rebuked those “ravenous” for wealth and power at the expense of the vulnerable, including children, in a Christmas Eve homily decrying war, poverty and greedy consumerism.
Pope’s vicar for Rome seeks full truth about Jesuit abuse
December 23, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — The pope’s vicar for Rome called Friday for the full truth to come out about a famous Jesuit priest accused of sexual and spiritual abuses against adult women, and said he was evaluating what to do with the priest’s Rome-based community and diocesan positions.
‘Despicable’: Slovene bishops condemn Jesuit artist’s abuse
December 22, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Slovenia’s Catholic bishops on Thursday condemned as “despicable” the emotional, sexual, and spiritual violence committed against women by a famous Slovenian priest at the heart of an abuse and cover-up scandal roiling the Vatican and the Jesuit order of Pope Francis.
Pope warns Vatican staff an ‘elegant demon’ lurks among them
December 22, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis warned Vatican bureaucrats on Thursday to beware the devil that lurks among them, saying it is an “elegant demon” that works in people who have a rigid, holier-than-thou way of living the Catholic faith.
Vatican investigator says claims of Jesuit abuse true
December 19, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — A Vatican-appointed investigator who helped bring to light decades-old allegations of sexual and spiritual abuse against a famous Jesuit priest is calling for the hierarchs who hid his crimes to “humbly ask the world to forgive the scandal.”
Jesuits ask victims to come forward in artist abuse case
December 18, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis' Jesuit order on Sunday asked any more victims to come forward with complaints against a famous Jesuit artist who was essentially let off the hook by the Vatican twice despite devastating testimony by women who said he sexually and spiritually abused them.
Pope wrote resignation note in case of health impediment
December 18, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis has revealed in an interview published Sunday that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from carrying out his duties.
Poles executed for hiding Jews are declared martyrs by pope
December 17, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday declared as martyrs a Polish couple who were executed by German police during World War II for hiding Jews in their farmhouse.
A farmer and beekeeper, Jozef Ulma, and wife Wiktoria in the Polish town of Markowa hid several members of the Jewish community, who were being hunted down during the German occupation of Poland.
Pope returns Greece’s Parthenon Sculptures in ecumenical nod
December 16, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis will send back to Greece the three fragments of the Parthenon Sculptures that the Vatican Museums have held for two centuries, in the latest case of a Western museum bowing to demands for restitution of artifacts to their countries of origin.
Jesuit case underscores secrecy, leniency for abuse of women
December 15, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Revelations that the Vatican let a famous priest off the hook twice for abusing his authority over adult women has exposed two main weaknesses in the Holy See’s abuse policies: sexual and spiritual misconduct against adult women is rarely if ever punished, and secrecy still reigns supreme, especially when powerful priests are involved.