St. Peter’s Square

As tens of thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square and throughout Vatican City, watch parties popped up on the campuses of Saint John’s University, the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary.

Nestled in the arms of Bernini’s colonnade around St. Peter’s Square, 26 photos of women and girls make up an art exhibit meant to open people’s eyes and hearts to the suffering and resilience of women.

Pope Benedict XVI “spread and testified to” the Gospel his entire life, Pope Francis told tens of thousands of people gathered Jan. 5 for his predecessor’s funeral Mass.

The 2022 Christmas stamps were painted by Italian artist and activist Francesco Canale, who was born without arms or legs and paints holding a brush between his teeth.

The goal of the monthly newspaper is “to give a voice to those who are usually not heard: the poor, people wounded by life, those who are cast aside and excluded,” the Vatican said.

In cooperation with Italian emergency measures, the Vatican has closed St. Peter’s Square and Basilica to tourists starting March 10 through April 3.

Pope Francis unveiled the large statue, “Angels Unawares,” after celebrating an outdoor Mass Sept. 28 for the 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

Rich Varano, an American artist and three other sculptors are charged with creating a massive 52-foot-wide “Sand Nativity,” which, along with a 42-foot-tall red spruce tree donated by the Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone in the northern Italian region of Veneto, was to be unveiled at the Vatican’s annual tree lighting ceremony Dec. 7.