According to our tour guide… The Necropolis or City of the Dead was discovered by accident sometime in the late 1930s. A part of the floor in the Basilica of St. Peter needed to be lowered and while digging up
Everything is smaller in Rome. At least the parts of Rome that I have seen so far. I just finished taking a shower in something the size of a phone booth and had to increase the font size on this
Outside of a honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean, a few days in Canada, and a weekend in Santa Monica, I have never traveled outside of America. That all changes this week, as the wife and I begin to make our
A UN committee has told the Catholic Church to get over its opposition to adolescents having sex and that it needs to change its teachings on abortion and homosexuality. These explosive directives came in an official report issued by the Committee
Imagine, on Super Bowl Sunday, if a sports reporter piped up and said things like, “Hey, since it’s called football, can you touch the ball?” or “Hey, what’s with the blocking and tackling? That’s kind of mean,” or “Hey, touchdowns,
Italian police have recovered part of a religious relic stained with Polish pope John Paul II’s blood that was thrown away by thieves thinking it worthless, the Italian press reported on Saturday. The relic was snatched a week ago along
US President Barack Obama expressed strong admiration of Pope Francis for promoting “a true sense of brotherhood and sisterhood and regard for those who are less fortunate,” in an interview aired Friday. The US president, who will visit the Vatican
On Thursday Pope Francis delivered a statement to the University of Notre Dame in the United States that it should be an “uncompromising witness…to the Church’s moral teaching,” and to resist “efforts, from whatever quarter, to dilute that indispensable witness,”
VATICAN CITY, Jan. 29 (UPI) —A former male stripper turned erotic film actor said Pope Francis blessed his parrot during his general audience in Vatican City. Francesco Lombardi, who uses the stage name Ghyblj, said he decided to come forward
(Reuters) – Pope Francis may already be a hero to the world’s downtrodden but at least one pop artist thinks he’s more than that. Move over Superman, it’s time for Superpope. A large painting has appeared on a building near
Animal rights enthusiasts have asked the Pope to stop releasing doves from the window of the Vatican after some doves were attacked after a release by a seagull and a crow on Sunday, January 26. In an open letter, the
As the Church of England, known popularly as the Anglican Church – along with its American cousin, the Episcopal Church – struggles to find its place while rapidly incorporating 21st Century social mores and cultural shifts into its flexible theology, there’s a temptation to
VATICAN CITY – With two children by his side, and tens of thousand of people watching in St. Peter’s square, Pope Francis appealed Sunday for peace in Ukraine, where anti-government protesters have died amid an uptick in violence. From an
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Two white doves that were released by children standing alongside Pope Francis as a peace gesture have been attacked by other birds. As tens of thousands of people watched in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, a
Catholic schools have long produced graduates who show higher levels of achievement on standardized assessments than those from public schools. Yet, 100 Catholic dioceses embraced the Common Core standards based on the promise that they would provide a “rigorous” foundation
VATICAN CITY (AP) — French President Francois Hollande met Friday with Pope Francis amid tensions in his private life over a gossip magazine’s report about an alleged affair with an actress. Vatican Television covered Hollande’s arrival Friday live, showing the
USA Today has the announcement that President Obama will meet with Pope Francis next month, and hopes the Pontiff will prove useful to his political agenda: President Obama will meet with Pope Francis on March 27, capping a European trip
Hollywood may not care much for Christianity or for actual Christians, but it loves the Roman Catholic Church – and it’s not an affair that began with the election of Pope Francis in March 2013. Reverent and/or accurate films about the Church
Michelle Malkin notes the bizarre, utterly counter-factual insistence of Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama that poverty is the root cause of terrorism: While meeting with Catholic Church officials at the Vatican in Rome on Monday, Kerry expounded
Here are a couple of things we were reminded of during the Christmas season: Jesus was born to a woman who was not married to her Child’s Father, and the Holy Infant was undoubtedly breastfed. Obviously, this marriage was a
(AP) Pope says abortion evidence of ‘throwaway culture’By NICOLE WINFIELDAssociated PressVATICAN CITYPope Francis on Monday criticized abortion as evidence of a “throwaway culture” that wastes people as well as food, saying such a mentality is a threat to world peace.
By FRANCES D’EMILIOAssociated PressVATICAN CITYPope Francis named his first batch of cardinals on Sunday, choosing 19 men from Asia, Africa, Latin America and elsewhere, including the developing nations of Haiti and Burkina Faso, in line with his belief that the
Leaders of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Charities USA are urging the Senate to increase the minimum wage. In a news release Wednesday, the USCCB announced that Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -An Argentine priest hitched a ride on Pope Francis’ popemobile during the pontiff’s general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday after the pope recognized him in the crowd. The pope thought he had heard a familiar
The Vatican media spokesman warned Sunday against misinterpreting Pope Francis’s comments about children of same-sex and divorced couples during a meeting of leaders of male religious orders in November. According to the Los Angeles Times, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi
