FAITH/STORIES

A car enters the Sant'Anna entrance to Vatican City State guarded by Swiss Guards and Vatican gendarmes May 19, 2023. A man forcibly drove past security check points to enter the Vatican May 18 before he was arrested and placed in a Vatican detention cell.

Man arrested after car breaches Vatican gate, drawing gunfire from police

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A man with apparent psychiatric problems forced his way through a Vatican security gate late May 18 by speeding past Swiss Guards and Vatican gendarmes in a vehicle before being apprehended in a Vatican courtyard.

The flag and crest of Vatican City State are described in the "fundamental law" of the tiny independent nation. Pope Francis issued a new version of the law, which was published by the Vatican May 13, 2023.

Pope Francis issues new 'fundamental law' for Vatican City State

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Pope Francis updated the "Fundamental Law of Vatican City State," opening the possibility that laypeople can be members of its governing commission and emphasizing that the independence of the city-state is essential for the mission of the Holy See.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni applauds Pope Francis during a meeting about families and Italy's declining birthrate May 12, 2023, in Rome.

It's unfair, humiliating if only the rich can build a family, Pope Francis says

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Starting a family and having children has become a kind of herculean task when instead it should be valued and supported by everyone, Pope Francis said at a meeting in Rome on Italy's severe decline in population growth.

A Swiss Guard salutes during a swearing-in ceremony for new Swiss Guard recruits in the San Damaso Courtyard of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican May 6, 2023.

Every moment is a chance to live the Gospel, Pope Francis tells new Swiss Guards

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Pope Francis asked 23 new members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard to draw close to the sacraments, read Scripture and meditate on spiritual texts, including during calm shifts on guard.

Pope Francis meets with Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest and Hungary, the former head of external relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, in the Vatican nunciature in Budapest April 29, 2023.

Mystery mission: Details murky on Pope Francis' push for peace in Ukraine

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When Pope Francis told reporters the Vatican had some kind of "mission" underway to promote an end to the war in Ukraine, journalists naturally were intrigued.

Pope Francis kisses the encolpion, an icon Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic bishops wear instead of a pectoral cross, as he greets Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, director of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, at the end of the pope's general audience May 3, 2023, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

After praying for peace in Ukraine, Pope Francis greets Russian Orthodox official

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Shortly after urging people to pray the rosary for peace and entrusting the people of Ukraine to Mary's care, Pope Francis met briefly with Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, director of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church.

Pope Francis listens to a question from Spanish journalist Eva Fernández during his flight from Hungary back to Rome April 30, 2023.

Pope Francis on plane talks about Ukraine, returning artifacts to Canada

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The Holy See has a project underway related to peace between Russia and Ukraine, but Pope Francis told reporters he could not talk about it yet.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal gives Pope Francis a book during a meeting in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican April 27, 2023. The book contained photos documenting the damage inflicted on Ukraine by Russian bombing.

Pope Francis meets Ukrainian prime minister at Vatican

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After a half-hour private meeting in the library of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis gave the prime minister of Ukraine a bronze plaque featuring a bird and a flower alongside the inscription, "Peace is a fragile flower."

April 26, 2023
Pope Francis holds a portrait of himself while greeting visitors after his weekly general audience April 26, 2023, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

Nuns, monks are 'beating heart' of the church, Pope Francis says

The prayers of nuns and monks are like "oxygen" for all members of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said.

Xavière Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, speaks to Iacopo Scaramuzzi, a reporter for La Repubblica, in the Vatican press office April 26, 2023. The Vatican had just announced Pope Francis' decision to have women and laymen as voting members of the synod.

Pope Francis decides women will be voting members of Synod of Bishops

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At least three dozen women will be voting members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October, Pope Francis has decided.

U.S. Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia, adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, looks on as Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the dicastery, speaks to Pope Francis about the work of the Pontifical Biblical Commission during an audience April 20, 2023, in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican.

Suffering is a reality to explore, not ignore, Pope Francis says

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Suffering and death are human realities that raise questions people need to ask themselves, Pope Francis said.

The top of the processional cross that will be used at the coronation of King Charles III in May is seen on the altar of an Anglican parish in Llandudo, Wales, April 19, 2023. Relics of the Christ's cross, a gift from Pope Francis, are under glass in the centre of the processional cross.

Vatican sends relic of true cross to Britain's King Charles

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As Britain's King Charles III walks into Westminster Abbey for his coronation, he will walk behind a processional cross containing a relic of Christ's cross given to the king by Pope Francis.

April 11, 2023
Pope Francis waves to the crowd in St. Peter's Square before he imparts his Easter blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica April 9, 2023.

Pope Francis prays that Easter joy would break through gloom of sin, war, strife

On a bright spring morning, Pope Francis prayed that Christians would experience the joy of Easter and allow Christ's resurrection to be "the light that illumines the darkness and the gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped."

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