VATICAN CITY - Despite media reports that Pope Francis refused the candidate France proposed as its next ambassador to the Holy See — speculating that it is due to the fact Laurent Stefanini is homosexual — the French government has yet to receive an official response from the Vatican, said a spokesperson for the French government.

Published in Vatican

VATICAN CITY - Italian police arrested at least nine people in what officials described as a terrorist cell that had planned, in 2010, to strike at the Vatican with a suicide bomber.

Published in Vatican

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said interreligious dialogue with the Muslim community must be strengthened given "the barbarism underway" by terrorists claiming to be Muslims.

Published in International

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, who was convicted in 2012 on one misdemeanour count of failing to report suspected child abuse.

Published in Vatican

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis mourned the deaths of all those killed in extremist and ethnic violence in Kenya, and admonished the perpetrators to "come to their senses and seek mercy."

Published in International

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican approved new statutes and bylaws for the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious, ending a seven-year process of investigating the group and engaging in dialogue with its officers to ensure greater harmony with church teaching.

Published in Vatican

TORONTO - For 24 hours the Vatican flag is flying above Nathan Philips Square as the City of Toronto celebrates the first national John Paul II Day April 2.

Published in Canada: Toronto-GTA

VATICAN CITY - While enjoying a private visit to the Sistine Chapel, a group of VIP guests -- homeless people who live around the Vatican -- were surprised by a visit from Pope Francis.

Published in Vatican

PHOTO GALLERY: YSN reporter Vincent Mastromatteo shares what he saw at the Vatican when he visited last year.

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Of all the places a Catholic can be during Holy Week, few can beat Rome. The bustling capital of Italy is awash with pilgrims that week, and last year, 21 classmates and I were among them.
Published in YSN: Speaking Out
March 19, 2015

Francis’ blessing

Two years ago the demands of office caused a tired Pope Benedict XVI to resign the papacy. He was 85. Now we have Pope Francis, 78, musing about a short pontificate as he begins his third year on the job.

Published in Editorial

VATICAN CITY - Without family, a legal identity and adequate education, children uprooted by the ongoing violence in Syria and the Middle East "are at risk of becoming a lost generation," said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva.

Published in International

VATICAN CITY - A small, inconspicuous cemetery inside the Vatican walls made headlines recently with the burial of a Belgian homeless man, Willy Herteleer.

Published in Vatican

GENEVA - No one is exempt from either the impacts of climate change or the moral responsibility to act to address this global concern, a Vatican official told members of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Published in International

VATICAN CITY - The head of Vatican security said Islamic State militants have threatened the Vatican, but there are no indications of any planned attack.

Published in Vatican

ROME - The Italian government is on high alert after threats from the Islamic State called Italy “the nation signed with the blood of the cross.”

Published in International