Vatican City News

This video shows the daring and scary encounter that the Pope had with a man eating spider! Hardly, but watch this amusing video. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2009/09/28/moos.pope.spider.cnn

The Vatican warned Roman Catholics this week of the dangers of Halloween and urged parents and church leaders to direct children to more wholesome pursuits. Italian news agency, reported. ''Halloween has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian,'' the...

Pope Benedict XVI canonized five new saints on Sunday, including a 19th century priest who worked with leprosy patients on an isolated Hawaiian island, praising them as models of perfection for sacrificing themselves for others...Peter's Basilica was Hawaii resident Audrey...

The Synod on Africa is aimed at discussing the continent's social and economic problems. The Catholic Church is growing faster in Africa than in any other part of the world, nearly trebling in size to 150 million followers over 30...

The Vatican and its scientific observatory are organising a celebration at the Vatican City on Friday and Saturday. The event coincides with the International Year of Astronomy, which will close on 9-10 January in the northern Italian city of Padova....

Pope Benedict on Saturday announced he would hold a special meeting next year of Roman Catholic bishops to discuss the concerns and challenges of the Church in the Middle East. The Pope told visiting Middle Eastern bishops at his summer...

A joint panel of experts set up to study relations with the ultraconservative Roman Catholic Society of Pius X met in the Italian capital, Rome, on Monday, the Vatican said. The Holocaust-denying bishop Richard Williamson is a member of the...

The Holy See announced a sweeping overhaul of the Vatican bank's management as part of Pope Benedict XVI's push for greater transparency at one of the world's most secretive financial institutions. In a statement Wednesday, the Holy See said it...

A prominent African cardinal says there's no reason why the next pope can't be black. Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana is playing an important part in a three-week meeting at the Vatican on the role of the Catholic...

Roman Catholic bishops have blasted corruption among politicians in Africa. The region needs "saintly politicians who will clean the continent of corruption," the bishops declared Friday at a meeting about Africa at the Vatican. "Many Catholics in high office have...