Vatican City
Holy See's independent state, an enclave within Rome, Italy
Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons, cropped)
- 2d ago
Archbishop blesses AI-generated icon of Carlo Acutis in Belarus, drawing believers' criticism
Former archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz blessed the image on Sunday, 11 October, in Novolukoml. Believers criticised it online, saying a picture generated by artificial intelligence cannot be considered an icon.
- 5d ago
Pope Leo names Filipino Cardinal Tagle dean of the College of Cardinals
Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 69, replaces 92-year-old Giovanni Battista Re in a post that runs a papal transition and shapes who votes in the next conclave.
- 6d ago
Anthropic bans sustained cruelty toward Claude from 12 November, letting the chatbot end chats
From 12 November, Claude can end chats where users repeatedly act cruelly without a discernible purpose, a rule that has drawn both praise and sharp criticism.
- Oct 5
Vatican and Penguin to publish Pope Francis's private diaries covering 32 years of personal notes across 94 countries
A collection of personal notes written by the late Pope Francis between December 1992 and August 2024 will be released worldwide in five languages on 24 November 2026.
- Oct 3
Pope Leo XIV replaces Cardinal Gambetti at Saint Peter's and names him Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Mauro Gambetti as Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, ending his five-year administration as Archpriest of Saint Peter's Basilica.
- Oct 3
Pope Leo XIV calls for alliance with artists to defend human creativity from AI
Speaking at the Vatican Consistory Hall and on X, Pope Leo XIV declared that algorithms lack the human spark and argued that machine-generated output differs fundamentally from human creativity.
- Sep 30
Lou Ferrigno meets Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City after weekly general audience
Actor Lou Ferrigno spoke with Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday in St. Peter's Square, striking his signature Hulk pose after the weekly general audience concluded.
- Sep 14
Pope Leo XIV repeals 2021 salary cuts for cardinals and senior Vatican officials
Pope Leo XIV has issued a motu proprio abolishing 2021 pandemic pay reductions of up to 10% for Roman Curia leadership, taking effect from 1 September 2026 following improved Holy See finances.
- Aug 28
Zamora Diocese Suspends Priest and Alerts Civil Authorities Over Child Abuse Allegations
The Diocese of Zamora in Spain has suspended a parish priest from his ministry and reported child sexual abuse allegations to the Guardia Civil following a Vatican review.
- Aug 26
CIA Director John Ratcliffe visits Moscow for intelligence service meetings
CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow on 25 August 2026 for talks with Russian intelligence officials, marking the first known visit by an agency chief to Russia since 2022.
- Aug 25
Vatican foreign minister meets Sergey Lavrov in Moscow to urge Ukraine peace talks
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday, calling for an end to the four-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine and focusing on humanitarian agreements.
- Aug 23
Vatican plans €100 million agrivoltaic plant to achieve energy self-sufficiency
The Holy See will build an 80 to 90 megawatt agrivoltaic facility outside Rome to cover the electricity needs of Vatican City and its affiliated institutions.
- Aug 21
Tadej Pogacar wins Vuelta a Espana opening time trial in Monaco by 0.09 seconds
The Slovenian rider edged out Ethan Hayter on the 9.4-kilometer Monte Carlo street circuit to claim his first career red leader jersey and 20th victory of 2026.
- Aug 5
Pope Leo XIV will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November in his first Latin American trip as pontiff
Pope Leo XIV will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17, 2026, in his first Latin American trip as pontiff, returning to Peru where he served as bishop of Chiclayo and marking the first papal visit to Argentina in nearly four decades.
- Aug 4
Pacific nation Nauru officially becomes Naoero, reclaiming traditional name
The Pacific island nation of Nauru has officially changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, matching the spelling and pronunciation in the national language, President David Adeang announced.
- Aug 1
Patti Smith meets Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican: two Chicago natives, a crucifix and a joke about English
The 79-year-old rock icon and poet, wearing a crucifix, was received by the pontiff in the Apostolic Palace on Friday, with Vatican official Antonio Spadaro describing the 'lengthy' talk as a chat between 'old friends'.
- Jul 29
Danube drought forces nuclear plant shutdowns in Hungary and Romania
Record-low Danube levels from prolonged heatwaves have pushed Hungary's Paks plant toward its first full shutdown in its 44 years of service and threaten Romania's Cernavoda reactor, as both countries scramble to conserve electricity.
- Jul 7
Cardinal López Romero steps aside after five women accuse him of sexual misconduct
The Archbishop of Rabat temporarily withdraws from public ministry after at least five women accused him of sexual violence, triggering a Vatican investigation.
- Jul 4
US envoys Witkoff and Kushner urge compromise in Kyiv after Moscow talks with Putin
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday following a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, urging both sides to compromise as the war threatens to continue into winter.
- Jul 2
Vatican excommunicates six Lefebvrist bishops after illicit consecrations in Switzerland, warns followers of same penalty
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith declared the consecration of four bishops without papal consent a schismatic act, imposing automatic excommunication on the six clerics involved and threatening the same for any faithful who formally adhere to the breakaway group.
