Vatican News

Eucharist is reminder of God's love, call to unity, Pope says

June 19, 2017

ROME – The Eucharist is a tangible reminder of God's love, and receiving Communion is a call to work to build the body of Christ by loving others and shunning all that sows division within a community, Pope Francis said.

Charting change: Vatican statistics track church health indicators

June 18, 2017

VATICAN CITY – The health of the Catholic Church can be measured in many ways, and the Vatican has a special office just for that purpose.

Francis holds ‘ad limina’ visits a little differently than his predecessors

June 17, 2017

VATICAN CITY – The bishops' ad limina visits under Pope Francis has been a little different than under past pontiffs: there are no more speech exchanges and one additional meeting has been added to the schedule.

Mental health has a spiritual element, Holy See reminds UN

June 16, 2017

GENEVA, Switzerland – The Holy See's representative to the United Nations appealed Wednesday to the Human Rights Council to couple psychological treatment with spiritual care.

In book foreword, Pope Francis calls corruption a 'cancer'

June 15, 2017

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis, in a foreword to a work by Cardinal Peter Turkson, has said corruption infects the world like a cancer, and the Church must combat it by working together with society, infusing it with mercy.

Vatican releases online questionnaire for youth ahead of synod

June 14, 2017

VATICAN CITY – To involve young people in preparations for the Synod of Bishops on youth in 2018, the Vatican has released an online questionnaire to better understand the lives, attitudes and concerns of 16- to 29-year-olds around the world.

Poverty requires action, not empty words, Pope says

June 13, 2017

VATICAN CITY – People cannot sit back and be indifferent or unresponsive to growing poverty in the world as a privileged minority accumulates "ostentatious wealth," Pope Francis said.

Vatican bank reports $53 million profit in 2016

June 12, 2017

VATICAN CITY – The Institute for the Works of Religion, often referred to as the Vatican bank, made a profit of 36 million euros (about $53 million) in 2016, according to its annual report.

Vatican: Failure to protect child migrants an insult to human dignity

June 12, 2017

VATICAN CITY – Too often, national and international policies leave migrant children at the mercy of traffickers and sexual predators and are signs of a widespread failure to protect the innocent, a Vatican official said.

World ignores warming, pollution of oceans at own peril, say speakers at U.N.

June 8, 2017

UNITED NATIONS – If left unchecked, warming, pollution, and acidification of the world's oceans will have drastic socio-ecological consequences, particularly for people who depend on the water for their livelihoods, according to speakers at the June 5-9 Ocean Conference at the United Nations.