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Holy See

Holy See
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Holy See. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Capital
Vatican City
Head of State
Pope Francis
Head of Government
President of the Governorate Fernando Vérgez Alzaga
Britain’s King Charles during the recording of his Christmas message. Photo: PA via AP
King Charles III

Britain’s King Charles calls for ‘reconciliation’ in Christmas speech

UK monarch praises the courage of those who risked their lives for others during his fourth Christmas broadcast as king.

Pope Leo XIV

Pope calls for end to all wars in first Christmas as pontiff

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Middle East

Pope Leo urges Lebanon’s leaders to unite for peace

Turkey

Pope warns ‘piecemeal’ third world war ‘threatening’ humanity

In Ankara, Pope Leo urged for global peace amid rising conflicts and geopolitical tensions during his first trip outside Italy.

Pope Leo speaks at the National Library of the Presidential Palace, during his first apostolic journey, in Ankara, Turkey on Thursday. Photo: Reuters
Catholic Church

Vatican returns 62 artefacts connected to indigenous peoples from Canada

The move is part of the Catholic Church’s reckoning with its role in helping suppress indigenous culture in the Americas.

Italy

King Charles, Pope Leo pray together in 500-year first

It is the first joint worship including an English monarch and a Catholic pontiff since King Henry VIII broke away from Rome in 1534.

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Pope Leo XIV

Nuns, teen influencer and ex-Satanic priest among 7 new saints

Pope Leo XIV created the new saints, including the first from Papua New Guinea and an archbishop killed in the Armenian genocide.

Pope Leo XIV attends a Mass on the day of the canonisation of seven new saints, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters
Italy

Pope Leo visits ship sailing the Mediterranean on peace mission

Young people of different faiths have been sailing the Mediterranean on the Bel Espoir schooner vessel to promote peace and dialogue.

King Charles III

King Charles to be first UK monarch to pray with pope in centuries

The occasion at the Sistine Chapel would mark a historic step towards unity between the Catholic Church and the Church of England.

Venezuela

Trump calls off talks with Venezuela as US considers cartel targets on land

Relations between Venezuela and the United States have further deteriorated in recent weeks amid US accusations of drug trafficking.

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US Marines unload landing craft during a training exercise in Arroyo, Puerto Rico, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters
Britain

Church of England names first female Archbishop of Canterbury

Sarah Mullally, 63, is the Bishop of London and will face serious challenges including the treatment of women and LGBTQ people.

The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally attends a Service of Prayer and Reflection for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in London on September 9, 2022, a day after her death at the age of 96. Photo: AFP
Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo declares teen computer whiz the first millennial saint

Carlo Acutis, who died at 15 in 2006, was known for using technology to spread his faith.

Religion

LGBTQ Catholics celebrate acceptance in Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome

LGBTQ groups attribute the change to Pope Francis, who had insisted the Catholic Church was open to everyone.

The Philippines

Binondo: inside the 400-year-old heart of Filipino-Chinese heritage

For centuries, Manila’s Binondo district has been the centre of a Tsinoy culture that helped build the Philippines into what it is today.

A fire breather performs on the streets of Binondo for Lunar New Year in 2013. Photo: Xinhua
China-Vatican relations

Editorial | Cardinal’s meeting with Pope a good sign for Sino-Vatican relations

Hong Kong’s Catholic church has traditionally played a role in bridging the Vatican and the mainland, and it should continue to contribute in this way.

Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong (right) speaks with Pope Leo XIV on September 2 at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Both held an in-depth exchange on the situation of the Church in China. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong politics

Pope Leo XIV pledges commitment to Beijing-Vatican ties: Hong Kong cardinal

Cardinal Stephen Chow reveals details after meeting the new pope for ‘an in-depth exchange on the situation of the church in China’.

Ukraine war

Trump tells Zelensky Crimea, Nato off the table if he wants to end war

The Ukrainian president is returning to Washington for the first time since a spectacularly tense exchange with Trump in February.

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Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo preaches friendship to nearly 1 million at Holy Year youth festival

32 million young Catholics from around the world are expected to take part in the pilgrimage to Italy’s capital for the jubilee celebration.

Pope Leo XIV greets worshippers at a prayer vigil during the Jubilee of Youth at the Tor Vergata field in Rome on Saturday. Photo: Vatican Media/AP
Pope Leo XIV

Pope visits observatory, calls Buzz Aldrin to mark 1969 US moon landing

The American pontiff spoke with the famed Apollo 11 astronaut, reflecting on human ingenuity and the ‘mystery and greatness of Creation’.

European Union

Pope Leo signals continuity on fighting child abuse with Vatican appointee

France’s Bishop Thibault Verny, 59, will head the Vatican’s child protection advisory commission, replacing American Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

Africa

Vatican beatifies Congo customs worker for resisting corruption

Floribèrt Bwana Chui Bin Kositi was kidnapped and killed in 2007 after he refused to allow rancid rice across the Rwanda-DR Congo border.

Aline Minani holds a photo of Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, a Congolese man killed in 2007 for fighting corruption, and whose beatification was approved by Pope Francis, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on December 29 last year. Photo: AP
China-Vatican relations

Beijing hoping for closer ties with Vatican as pope names first Chinese bishop

The announcement signals that a controversial deal which gives both sides a say on episcopal appointments will continue.

Joseph Lin Yuntuan has been appointed as an auxiliary bishop in Fuzhou. Photo: chinacatholic.cn
Ukraine war

Putin and Pope Leo discuss Ukraine war, as pontiff presses for peace

The Russian leader, however, claimed Kyiv was ‘betting on an escalation of the conflict and carrying out of acts of sabotage’ in his country.

Ukraine war

US and Russia row as Moscow masses 50,000 troops near Ukrainian region

Ukraine-Russian war intensifying as Trump warns Putin he is ‘playing with fire’.

China-Vatican relations

Pope Leo prays for Chinese Catholics to be in communion with Rome

Pope prayed that Catholics in China ‘obtain the grace to be strong and joyful witnesses of the Gospel, even in the midst of trials’.

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Pope Leo waves before a holy mass in the Roman Cathedral in the Papal Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome on Sunday. Photo: dpa
Ukraine war

‘Inelegant?’ Russia casts doubt over Vatican as venue for Ukraine talks

Pope Leo had said the Vatican could act as a mediator in global conflicts, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said ‘many people are fantasising’ about meeting location.

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Pope Leo talks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican on Sunday. Photo: via EPA-EFE
Pope Leo XIV

Vance gives Pope Leo an invitation from Trump to visit White House

The Chicago-born pope accepted the invitation letter and replied: ‘at some point’.

Ukraine war

Zelensky, Vance shake hands at Vatican after Oval Office row

Zelensky and Vance last met at the White House in February, in a meeting described as one of the worst diplomatic incidents in recent history.

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