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Cardinal Bernard Law (right) speaks with unidentified prelates as he attends Pope Benedict XVI's last general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in 2013. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption
Gregorio Borgia/AP
Bernard Law, Former Archbishop Of Boston, Dies In Rome At 86
December 20, 2017 • Once considered among the most influential prelates in America, the archbishop was forced to resign amid the church's growing sex abuse scandal, which indelibly stained his reputation.
Monica Besra, 35, poses with a portrait of Mother Teresa at her home in Nakor village, 280 miles north of Kolkata, in December 2002. Besra claimed that prayers to Mother Teresa resulted in her recovery from abdominal cancer, something documented by the Vatican as a miracle. Rana Chakraborty/AP hide caption
Rana Chakraborty/AP
How The Catholic Church Documented Mother Teresa's 2 Miracles
August 31, 2016 • A cancer patient and a coma victim credit her for their recovery. "You have to accept that there are things that science cannot explain," says an atheist physician who's investigated miracle stories.
Polish nuns do most of the cooking at the Vatican. Here, they prepare sweets for the Feast of St. Nicholas. Katarzyna Artymiak/Courtesy of Sophia Institute Press hide caption
Katarzyna Artymiak/Courtesy of Sophia Institute Press
Holy Ravioli! Cookbook Reveals The Vatican's Favorite Recipes
February 17, 2016 • We all have comfort foods — even Pope Francis and the men who guard him. The Vatican Cookbook is a tour of life and food in the world's smallest country, as told by members of the Swiss Guard.
Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, left, and his partner Eduard, surname not given, leave a restaurant after a news conference in downtown Rome, on Saturday. The Vatican on Saturday fired Charamsa who came out as gay on the eve of a big meeting of the world's bishops to discuss church outreach to gays, divorcees and more traditional Catholic families. Alessandra Tarantino/AP hide caption
Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Vatican Fires Priest After He Comes Out As Gay Ahead Of Bishops' Meeting
October 3, 2015 • Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa appeared at a news conference with his partner. In an interview he called the Church's stance on homosexuality "backwards."
Archbishop Josef Wesolowski, the Vatican's ambassador to the Dominican Republic, offers Mass in Santo Domingo on Aug. 3, 2009. The former archbishop and papal ambassador died Friday at the Vatican awaiting trial on child sex abuse charges. Reuters/Landov hide caption
Reuters/Landov
Defrocked Archbishop Dies Awaiting Trial On Sex Abuse Charges
August 28, 2015 • Former Polish Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski was accused of paying for sex with children and possessing child pornography while he served as the Holy See's ambassador to Dominican Republic.
A screenshot from a video produced by the Vatican with Italian actress Nancy Brilli. YouTube hide caption
Vatican's Women Initiative Gets Off To A Bad Start
February 3, 2015 • A promotional video produced ahead of Wednesday's conference on women's issues has been widely ridiculed as a sexist stereotype of the modern Western woman.
Pope Francis inaugurates a bronze statue of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI with Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo. Claudio Peri/EPA/Landov hide caption
Claudio Peri/EPA/Landov
Pope Says God Not 'A Magician, With A Magic Wand'
October 28, 2014 • Speaking at an assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Francis also affirmed that evolution and the Big Bang are consistent with a creator.
Pope Francis opens the morning session of a two-week synod on family issues at the Vatican, on Saturday. Andrew Medichini/AP hide caption
Andrew Medichini/AP
Vatican Bishops Scrap Opening To Gays, Divorced Members
October 18, 2014 • Earlier this week an interim summary of the synod on family issues included conciliatory language on gays and on the taking of holy communion for divorced church members.
In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis has lunch at the Vatican workers' cafeteria on Friday. AP hide caption
Pope Francis To Visit U.S. Next Year
July 25, 2014 • In what will be his first papal visit to the U.S., the pontiff has accepted an invitation to a meeting in Philadelphia and is reportedly considering stops in New York and Washington, D.C.
Pope Francis waves as he leads his Sunday Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican on Sunday. Francis reportedly told an Italian newspaper that statistically, about 2 percent of Roman Catholic priests are pedophiles. Tony Gentile/Reuters/Landov hide caption
Tony Gentile/Reuters/Landov
Pope Reportedly Says That 1 In 50 Clergy Are Pedophiles
July 13, 2014 • In an interview with an Italian newspaper, Francis is quoted as calling pedophilia a "leprosy in our house." The Vatican has disputed parts of the article.
Meeting Abuse Victims, Pope Francis Begs Forgiveness
July 7, 2014 • The pope holds his first official meetings with victims of sexual abuse, saying that the priests who hurt them behaved like "a sacrilegious cult."
Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi appears before the U.N. committee in Geneva on Monday. Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA/Landov hide caption
Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA/Landov
Vatican Tells U.N. Committee That Abuse Claims Have Dropped
May 5, 2014 • Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said there had been a "stabilization and even decline of cases of pedophilia."
Pope Francis poses for pictures with the audience after Palm Sunday service in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption
Pope Francis Poses For Selfies With Crowd At St. Peter's
April 13, 2014 • After speaking to a large Palm Sunday crowd, Pope Francis moved through the audience in his popemobile — and then got out of the vehicle to greet the faithful and pose for photos.
Pope Francis, left, and former Pope Benedict XVI at a Vatican ceremony on Saturday. It was their first public appearance together in the year since Benedict resigned. L'Osservatore Romano/AP hide caption
Benedict Dismisses Renewed Rumors About Why He Left The Papacy
February 26, 2014 • It's been one year since Pope Benedict XVI stepped down. Now, he has publicly called speculation that he might not have resigned willingly "simply absurd."
For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, relics of St. Peter the apostle (fragments of bone) are displayed for veneration. Franco Origlia/Getty Images hide caption
Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Vatican Puts St. Peter's Bones On Display For The First Time
November 24, 2013 • In a surreal, emotional ceremony, Pope Francis held bone fragments the Catholic Church believes are the relics of the apostle St. Peter, who is considered to be the church's first pope. The relics have been shrouded in mystery and intrigue for years.
A player from the Vatican's new cricket team of priests and seminarians returns a ball during a training session at the Mater Ecclesiae Catholic college in Rome last month. The Vatican officially declared its intention to defeat the Church of England — not in a theological re-match nearly 500 years after they split, but on the cricket pitch. Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters /Landov hide caption
Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters /Landov
The Vatican Reaches Out, A Cricket Match At A Time
November 6, 2013 • The Vatican is vowing to defeat the Church of England — not in the pews but on the cricket pitch. The Vatican has launched a cricket club, which draws from seminarians and priests of different nationalities who live and study in Rome. It's hoped the club will forge ties with teams of other faiths.
Pope Francis speaks with Jesuit school students Friday at the Vatican. Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images
'I Didn't Want To Be Pope,' Francis Tells Group Of Children
June 7, 2013 • Francis says that anybody who seeks the pontiff's job "doesn't care much for themselves." He explains that he also rejected living in the papal apartments because he doesn't like living alone.
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