The decrease in the number of consecrated men and women is “worrying,” according to the Vatican statistics office. While the number of religious brothers in Africa and Asia continues to increase, the number of religious brothers worldwide experienced an 8 percent drop between 2013 and 2018. During the same period, the number of women religious Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Vatican’
Vatican closed: Tour the Sistine Chapel free
Monday, March 30th, 2020
After a few weeks of social distancing, even — we hate to say it —Netflix is starting to get old. Same goes for all of the audiobooks and podcasts you’ve downloaded to cure your boredom. Luckily, there are countless virtual tours of museums, theme parks, and gardens to enjoy in these times. St Peter’s Square Read more
Sixth Vatican employee has tested positive
Monday, March 30th, 2020The Vatican spokesman today confirmed that Pope Francis and his closest collaborators do not have Covid-19, but a sixth employee in the city-state has tested positive, following tests carried out “on more than 170 employees of the Holy See and residents at the Santa Marta guesthouse,” where Pope Francis lives. The news came in a Read more
Rolls Royce withdraws offer for donors to see pope
Monday, March 9th, 2020
An exclusive offer to Rolls Royce owners who donate $100,000 euros to the Holy See has been withdrawn. According to news reports last week, Rolls-Royce and tour facilitator and operator Italian Luxury Living were offering Rolls Royce owners a chance to meet privately with Pope Francis. The reports said donors would also receive the Eucharist Read more
AI ethics backed by Pope and tech giants in new plan
Monday, March 2nd, 2020The Roman Catholic Church has joined up with IBM and Microsoft to work on the ethics of artificial intelligence. Leaders from the two tech giants met senior church officials in Rome, and agreed to collaborate on “human-centred” ways of designing AI. Microsoft president Brad Smith admitted some people may “think of us as strange bedfellows” Read more
Archbishop Gänswein – change of duties downplayed at Vatican
Monday, February 10th, 2020
The Vatican is saying little about a change in duties for Archbishop Gänswein. The Holy See Press Office says the long-time secretary of emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has had his duties as prefect of the papal household “reallocated to others”. It is downplaying 63-year-old Georg Gänswein’s absence from several papal audiences over the past few Read more
Tim Tebow and the Vatican join forces to give disabled an epic prom night
Monday, February 10th, 2020Perhaps the last thing one would expect booming from the speakers of a Vatican-sponsored event is “Scream & Shout” by Will.i.am and Britney Spears. But the Catholic Church teamed up with sports celebrity Tim Tebow on Tuesday night (Feb. 4) and set formalities aside to give people with special needs a night to remember. “I Read more
Cardinal Zen targets Vatican silence on China, Hong Kong
Thursday, December 12th, 2019
Cardinal Joseph Zen has taken aim at the Vatican for its silence on Hong Kong, the Uyghur concentration camps in Xinjiang and growing religious repression in mainland China. The city’s cardinal emeritus, who has been politically active in protests against any encroaching power by Beijing, used international media to take aim at the Holy See Read more
Vatican appears to rebuke new US West Bank settlement policy
Monday, November 25th, 2019In what appears to be a rare public rebuke of U.S. foreign policy, the Vatican issued a statement Thursday, reaffirming its support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calling on Israel to reside “within the borders recognized by the international community”. ”The communique follows this week’s controversial announcement that the U.S. government is reversing Read more
New head of Vatican’s economy office needs pope’s strong backing to succeed
Monday, November 18th, 2019
When Father Juan Antonio Guerrero was announced as the new head of the Secretariat for the Economy, a collective ‘huh?’ could probably be heard across Rome. The Spanish Jesuit is not a Vatican veteran and has only been in Rome for about two years, where he oversaw the various Jesuit institutions located in and around Read more