Posts Tagged ‘Vatican City’

Myanmar government head offered refuge in Vatican City

Thursday, September 26th, 2024
Myanmar

Pope Francis has urged the release of the ousted leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, and offered her refuge in the Vatican. The Pope’s plea was revealed in a conversation with Jesuits during his trip to Southeast Asia from September 2 to 13. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera published excerpts from these talks Read more

Albanese and Dutton need to find common ground on Voice to Australia’s Parliament

Thursday, June 8th, 2023
voice

An Australian priest backing the Indigenous Voice referendum to parliament fears the result will leave Australians divided. That will be a tragedy, he says. Father Frank Brennan (pictured), a Jesuit priest and human rights lawyer, blames leadership on both political sides for not seeking common ground. He hopes a “reconciling spirit” will blow through parliament’s Read more

Architect builds a lego version of the Vatican

Friday, October 1st, 2021

Working quietly in his Chicago-area home during the lull of the pandemic in 2020, Rocco Buttliere cobbled together 67,000 tiny, plastic Lego pieces to create an improbably realistic 3D replica of Vatican City State. He said the most challenging aspect of the Vatican piece was figuring out how to create the dome of St. Peter’s Read more

Vatican City prepares to ease coronavirus restrictions

Thursday, April 23rd, 2020

Vatican City is making plans to gradually ease the quarantine restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin has been meeting with the Roman Curia to discuss gradually reopening Holy See offices as Italy prepares to end its national lockdown on 4 May. The heads of Read more

St Peter’s Square closed, Masses cancelled

Thursday, March 12th, 2020

St Peter’s Square has been closed to the public. The Diocese of Rome has cancelled masses until 3 April and announced a day of prayer and fasting. Instead of meeting thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis held his general weekly audience and delivered his catechism via livestream from the privacy of his Read more

Vatican City’s first coronavirus case confirmed

Monday, March 9th, 2020

Vatican City’s first coronavirus (COVID-19) case has been confirmed. A number of precautionary measures have been implemented to contain the disease, a Vatican spokesman says. These include: Closing some of the Vatican’s offices. Shutting down and disinfecting the Vatican health clinic. Putting a Vatican official into a protective quarantine after he came into contact with Read more

Vatican consumes the most wine in the world

Friday, February 28th, 2014

The Vatican City state consumes more wine per capita than any other country in the world. According to statistics from the California-based Wine Institute, the Vatican consumed 74 litres of wine per person in 2012. This is about double the per capita consumption of Italy as a whole. A standard bottle of wine is about Read more

Vatican City cracks down on suspicious transactions

Friday, October 11th, 2013

The Vatican City State has adopted a new law cracking down on financial transactions that could enable money-laundering and imposing a new level of transparency and supervision. The Holy See Press Office said the new norm, Law XVIII, “strengthens the current internal system for the prevention and countering of money laundering and the financing of Read more

Good and bad money news for Holy See

Tuesday, July 9th, 2013

The Holy See has recovered from one of its worst deficits to post a $NZ3.6 million surplus for 2012, a good news story announced in a week in which “clear failings” were revealed in the processes of the Vatican Bank. In its annual financial statement, the Holy See said better management had helped it recover Read more

Pope Francis, rebel in the Vatican

Friday, July 5th, 2013

It was just another weekend at the office for Pope Francis, more of the series of actions, words and gestures that have kept him a fixture in the international media since his March 13 election. On June 15 he took a major step toward reforming the scandal-wracked Vatican bank by appointing his own man, Msg. Read more