Local Church

Online “relics” of St. Francis spark alarm: Franciscans warn faithful about growing digital fraud

The alarm was raised after listings appeared on popular e-commerce platforms such as eBay and Etsy claiming to offer relics connected to the medieval saint—among them supposed fragments of bone, traces of blood and pieces of clothing attributed to the founder of the Franciscan movement

Mar 15, 2026 18:45

Valentina di Giorgio

Pope Leo XIV

The devil’s work: one of the topics discussed with Pope Leo XIV by leaders of exorcists from around the world. Here’s how the meeting went

Orlita and Bamonte also shared a historical note that delighted the Pope: Leo XIV had personally known and appreciated Father Gabriele Amorth, the Italian priest who founded the International Association of Exorcists and who for decades served as one of the most widely known exorcists in the Church

Mar 14, 2026 20:35

Valentina di Giorgio

Cardinals and Bishops•Rome

The only cardinal in Iran was evacuated from the country and transferred to Rome: here is what is known

The 62-year-old cardinal arrived in the Italian capital on March 8 after the embassy carried out a full evacuation operation amid the ongoing military confrontation triggered by the strikes launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel against Iranian targets

Mar 11, 2026 17:53

Valentina di Giorgio

Rome

From Artificial Intelligence to Ancient Rites: Rome’s International Exorcism Course Explores the Church’s Response to Modern Forms of Spiritual Confusion

The twentieth edition will devote particular attention to the role of lay collaborators involved in this ministry. In many dioceses around the world, qualified laypeople assist priests in listening to those seeking help and in accompanying them spiritually. Organizers say this reality requires proper formation, careful discernment and close collaboration with ecclesiastical authorities

Mar 07, 2026 22:49

Valentina di Giorgio

Vocations•Woman

Synod Study Groups Signal Structural Shifts: Digital Jurisdiction and Women’s Role in Seminary Formation on the Vatican Table

The decision to publish the reports was ordered by Pope Leo XIV, who has insisted that synodality must include transparency and accountability before the entire People of God. Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, described the texts not as finished products but as working instruments—“a starting point, not an arrival.”

Mar 03, 2026 08:47

Valentina di Giorgio

Vatican City

A Barracks for the 21st Century: How the Vatican Plans to Rebuild the Home of the Swiss Guard

The new barracks will stand as a rare example of contemporary architecture embedded within one of the world’s most historically dense environments

Feb 25, 2026 23:12

Valentina di Giorgio

Local Church•Pope Leo XIV

This is what Pope Leo XIV’s tour of Italy will look like: these are the seven different cities he will visit in four months

Altogether, seven Italian destinations are scheduled before the end of August. The Vatican rarely publishes such a dense domestic agenda so far in advance. With the Holy Year 2025—during which millions of pilgrims came to Rome—now concluded, Leo XIV appears freer to move within and beyond the Eternal City

Feb 20, 2026 11:46

Valentina di Giorgio

Vatican Diplomacy

Vatican says no to Trump and declines to join the “Board of Peace”

In declining to join the Board of Peace while reaffirming the centrality of the United Nations, the Vatican signals a preference for established multilateral frameworks over newly configured coalitions. Whether that strategy will prove effective in a world where consensus is increasingly elusive remains an open question

Feb 17, 2026 17:51

Valentina di Giorgio

Local Church•Pope Leo XIV

Milei formally invites the Pope to visit Argentina: he sends his foreign minister to the Vatican to deliver a letter by hand to Leo XIV

While no dates have been confirmed, high-level officials in Buenos Aires privately estimate the probability of a visit at 70 percent or higher, with the final quarter of the year emerging as the most plausible window

Feb 13, 2026 17:10

Valentina di Giorgio

Analysis Opinion

Holy Shroud, medieval painting? The response of three Italian scientists to a Brazilian “researcher”

In the summer of 2025, Brazilian researcher Cicero Moraes published a digital modeling study proposing that the Shroud’s image could have been produced by pressing linen against a low-relief sculpture

Feb 11, 2026 18:25

Valentina di Giorgio

Vatican City

The Vatican Bank Enters the Era of Faith-Based Benchmarks

The significance of the Morningstar IOR Eurozone Catholic Principles and Morningstar IOR US Catholic Principles indices lies in their ambition. They aim to demonstrate that profitability and principle are not mutually exclusive

Feb 11, 2026 18:02

Valentina di Giorgio

Dicasteries•Pope Leo XIV•Virgin Mary

Pope Leo XIV intervenes in the Pontifical International Marian Academy: these are the new reforms

Structurally, the reform also reflects the broader reorganization of the Roman Curia initiated under Pope Francis and now being implemented under Leo XIV

Feb 09, 2026 10:29

Valentina di Giorgio