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Faithful hold Vatican Holy State flags during a national mourning mass for late Pope John Paul II
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Vatican City

Vatican City, officially Vatican City State, is a country located in Rome, the smallest state in the world both by area and population (about 800.) Founded in 1929, it is ruled by the bishop of Rome — the pope.

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All Content on this topic

A Chinese flag waving in front of the Wangfujiang Catholic Church in Beijing, China

China and Vatican agree to extend controversial bishops deal

Some conservative Catholics have criticized the accord for handing over too much control to Beijing.
ReligionOctober 22, 2024
Pope Francis kisses the hand of Indonesia's Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar

Vatican's 'pivot to Asia' reflected in Pope Francis' tour

The pope's 12-day tour shows that the Vatican — like many other Western states — is working to deepen ties with Asia.
ReligionSeptember 13, 2024
St. Joseph's Church with a Chinese flag flying

Decoding China: The Vatican's difficult diplomacy

To what extent can China allow the Catholic Church in the country if Beijing has little influence over the Vatican?
ReligionSeptember 1, 2024
Pope Francis sits on a chair while addressing the faithful in Venice

Pope Francis travels to Venice to attend Biennale

The pontiff flew from the Vatican into a women's prison in Venice, home to the Vatican's exhibition at the Biennale.
CultureApril 28, 2024
Pilgrims from Vietnam pose as they gather to attend mass led by Pope Francis at the Steppe Arena in Ulaanbaatar on September 3, 2023

Vatican eyes closer ties with communist Vietnam

Religious organizations in Vietnam are tightly under the thumb of the communist authorities.
PoliticsApril 25, 2024
Pope Francis gestures as he delivers his "Urbi et Orbi" (To the city and the world) message at St. Peter's Square, on Easter Sunday, at the Vatican March 31, 2024.

Vatican: Pope Francis urges peace on Easter Sunday

He called for peace in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, and for prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine.
ReligionMarch 31, 2024
Pope Francis waves after presiding over the Easter vigil celebration in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, March 30, 2024

Pope Francis leads Easter vigil after health concerns

Pope Francis used his homily to decry war and hatred in the world. It comes a day after he missed an Easter procession.
ReligionMarch 30, 2024
Pope Francis, seen here, has been battling health problems since last year

Pope Francis skips Good Friday procession for health reasons

It marks the second year in a row the 87-year-old has had to pull out of the Good Friday procession.
PoliticsMarch 29, 2024
Pope Francis receives German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during an audience at the Vatican March 2, 2024.

Germany's Scholz meets Pope Francis at the Vatican

The German chancellor said his talk with the head of the Catholic Church was "important" and "meaningful."
PoliticsMarch 2, 2024
Married and same-sex couples take part in a public blessing ceremony in front of the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023.

Vatican: Same-sex couple 'blessings' aren't 'heretical'

The Vatican said it could not be "blasphemous," not least because they are "blessings without a liturgical format."
ReligionJanuary 4, 2024
A church welcoming LGBT+ people to the congregation

Pope Francis allows Catholic blessings for same-sex couples

The Vatican allows priests to bless same-sex couples, but adds that such blessings are not a sign of approval.
ReligionDecember 18, 2023
Cardinal Angelo Becciu and Pope Francis stand side by side as the pope signs a document

Vatican cardinal handed 5.5 years jail for embezzlement

Cardinal Angelo Becciu is the highest-ranking Catholic Church official to stand before the Vatican court.
CrimeDecember 16, 2023
Pope Francis arrives in the Paul IV hall on the occasion of the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023.

Pope Francis 'still not well' after canceling COP28 trip

The 86-year-old pontiff was set to become the first Catholic Church head to address the UN climate summit.
ReligionNovember 29, 2023
Pope Francis delivers his blessing during the Angelus prayer, from his residence rather than St Peter's Square, on November 26, 2023

Pope Francis 'good, stable' but suffers lung inflammation

The Vatican says the Pontiff is showing signs of improvement after suffering from lung inflammation.
ReligionNovember 27, 2023
Fokus Europa Italien Papstschneider

The pope's tailor

Filippo Sorcinelli has tailored the vestments of many Catholic dignitaries.
SocietyNovember 13, 202304:24 min
DW Podcast | Inside Europe | provisorisch f ROAD

Inside Europe - 12 October 2023

How Russia is using the Israel-Hamas conflict for its own ends, no show for Syria in The Hague as the country is tried for war crimes, and we meet the international volunteers keeping vital aid to Ukraine stocked up. Also: two German states shift to the right, Paris cleans up a major bedbug infestation, and conservatives threaten to halt major reforms in the Catholic Church.
PoliticsOctober 12, 202355:00 min
St Peter's Basilica at sunset

Catholic Church synod: How explosive are calls for reform?

The church is in crisis but a major meeting of bishops in Rome will see unusually open dialogue.
ReligionOctober 3, 2023
Newly elected Cardinal Stephen Chow, Bishop of Hong Kong, right, receives his biretta from Pope Francis as he is elevated in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican

Vatican: Pope Francis appoints 21 new cardinals

Pope Francis elevated 21 clerics from around the world to the rank of cardinal. There are now 137 cardinal electors.
ReligionSeptember 30, 2023
A thin-faced man, Cardinal Franz Hengsbach, holds a crozier and looks stern

Catholic Church investigates claims against late cardinal

Victims groups want to know if Pope Benedict was involved in quashing an investigation a decade ago.
CrimeSeptember 20, 2023
Portraits of the Ulma family members at a museum in Markowa

Vatican beatifies Polish family that sheltered Jews

For the first time, the Vatican has given an entire family one of Catholicism's highest honors.
HistorySeptember 10, 2023
People wave Chinese flags as Pope Francis leaves after presiding over a mass in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar on September 3

Pope Francis in Mongolia sends greeting to Chinese Catholics

After a mass attended by some groups of Chinese Catholics, the pope told them to be "good Christians and good citizens."
ReligionSeptember 3, 2023
Pope Francis is received by Mongolia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Batmunkh Battsetseg during his arrival at Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar

Pope Francis visits Mongolia's tiny Catholic community

The Catholic Church sanctioned a presence in Mongolia as recently as 1992 after the nation adopted religious freedom.
PoliticsSeptember 1, 2023
Pope Francis leads the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, 07 June 2023.

Pope Francis names 21 new cardinals from across the world

The latest consistory comes as Francis continues to handpick those who would choose his successor.
ReligionJuly 9, 2023
Pope Francis greets people on the day of his discharge from Gemelli hospital in Rome

Pope Francis leaves hospital 9 days after operation

The head of the Roman Catholic Church is "better than before," a doctor said, after he underwent a hernia operation.
ReligionJune 16, 2023
Two members of Italian climate activist group, Ultima Generazione (Last Generation), glued themselves to the iconic statue of the priest "Laocoon" at the Vatican Museums on August 18, 2022.

Vatican court fines climate activists over museum protest

The activists were received a suspended jail sentence for gluing themselves to the base of a Vatican Museum statue.
ClimateJune 13, 2023
Pope Francis greets people as he arrives for the weekly general audience on the day he is due to undergo abdominal surgery, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican

Pope Francis recovering well from operation: Vatican

The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics has suffered increasing health issues in the last one year.
ReligionJune 9, 2023
Front view of Rome's Gemelli hospital

Pope Francis surgery over with 'no complications' — Vatican

The pontiff had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his large intestine removed in 2021.
PoliticsJune 7, 2023
An Italian police car passes in front of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, late Thursday, May 18, 2023

Vatican: Man arrested after crashing car into gate

A medical examination showed that he was in a "serious state of psychophysical alteration."
CrimeMay 18, 2023
The pope waves at crowds as he arrives at the central square in Budapest

Pope Francis urges unity in final Mass in Hungary

The pope capped his trip to Hungary with a Mass in Budapest, telling thousands to fight "closed doors" of nationalism.
ReligionApril 30, 2023
Pope Francis after the general assembly at the Vatican on April 26th 2023

Pope says women will be allowed to vote in bishops' assembly

Catholic women's groups have long campaigned for the right to vote at synods.
ReligionApril 26, 2023
Pope Francis celebrates Chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

Pope Francis to skip Good Friday procession

The pontiff is recovering from bronchitis and was released from hospital late last week.
ReligionApril 7, 2023
Pope Francis

Pope Francis to leave hospital in time for Easter mass

Pope Francis was hospitalized just weeks after his tenth anniversary as the head of the Catholic Church.
ReligionMarch 31, 2023
Pope Francis is helped get up the popemobile car as he leaves on March 29, 2023 at the end of the weekly general audience at St. Peter's square in The Vatican.

Vatican says Pope Francis recovering well in hospital

Pope Francis's health is improving after his first night in the hospital with a respiratory infection, the Vatican says.
ReligionMarch 30, 2023
Pope Francis is helped get up the popemobile car as he leaves on March 29 at the end of the weekly general audience at St. Peter's square in The Vatican

Pope Francis taken to hospital with respiratory infection

The Pope will stay at a hospital in Rome for several days of treatment. The Vatican said his infection is not COVID.
ReligionMarch 29, 2023
Acropolis Museum Director Nikolaos Stampolidis (L) speaks to Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni (second from the left), Greece's Orthodox Church Archbishop Ieronymos (C) and Bishop Brian Farrell, a Vatican secretary for promoting Christian unity (first from the right), during a ceremony at the Acropolis Museum in Athens on March 24, 2023.

Vatican returns Parthenon pieces to Greece Acropolis

The Vatican returned three fragments of the Parthenon temple in what Pope Francis has called a gesture of friendship.
HistoryMarch 25, 2023
A combination picture of Pope France and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega

Vatican shuts embassy in Nicaragua in row with Ortega

The closure follows Pope Francis calling President Daniel Ortega's socialist government a dictatorship.
ReligionMarch 18, 2023
Opposition members praying in a church in Managua, Nicaragua

Vatican-Nicaragua relations: Strained or broken?

Media reports say diplomatic relations between Managua and the Holy See are over. But are they really?
PoliticsMarch 15, 2023
Tourists look at a piece of the Parthenon frieze in the British Museum.

No plans to give Parthenon Marbles back to Greece

PM Sunak says UK will not alter law to give Parthenon fragments to Greece. The debate over their restitution continues.
ArtsMarch 14, 2023
Pope Francis looks out from a balcony at the Vatican in 2013

Approachable and opaque: 10 years of Pope Francis

Pope Francis has been head of the Catholic Church for 10 years. What has the former clergyman from Argentina achieved?
ReligionMarch 12, 2023
Pope Francis surrounded by cardinals and bishops at St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican

Pope instructs cardinals to pay rent at the Vatican

Pope Francis says cardinals and senior Holy See officials must pay full rent for their housing in the Vatican and Rome.
ReligionMarch 1, 2023
Pope Francis takes a question from a reporter aboard the papal plane

Pope Francis defends LGBT rights, Pope Benedict aboard plane

Returning from Africa, Pope Francis took umbrage with those who used Pope Benedict XVI's death to attack the church.
Human RightsFebruary 5, 2023
Italian Cardinal Battista Re speaks at George Pell's funeral; he is wearing a red robe and skullcap

Vatican holds funeral for Cardinal Pell

The Australian-born cardinal died at age 81. He was imprisoned in 2019, a conviction which was later overturned.
PoliticsJanuary 14, 2023
The coffin of former Pope Benedict is carried during his funeral, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, January 5, 2023.

Pope Benedict XVI honored at St. Peter's Square funeral

For the first time in centuries, a sitting pontiff is presiding over his predecessor's funeral.
ReligionJanuary 5, 2023
Several people line up to pay their respects to Pope Benedict at St. Peter's Basilica

Thousands pay tribute to late Pope Benedict at the Vatican

Mourners have begun paying their respects to the former pope, whose body will lie in state for the next three days.
ReligionJanuary 2, 2023
Pope Benedict XVI at his final general audience before retirement

Benedict XVI shocked the Catholic Church

Benedict XVI was loved by some but reviled by others. He has died at the age of 95.
ReligionDecember 31, 2022
German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger blesses the coffin of Pope John Paul II during his funeral mass in St Peter's Square at the Vatican City 08 April 2005.

What happens when a former pope dies?

The death of former Pope Benedict XVI has thrown up speculation about the funeral plans for a pope who has resigned.
ReligionDecember 31, 2022
Pope Francis, left, embraces Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, at the Vatican, June 28, 2017.

Vatican: Benedict in stable condition, participated in Mass

The former pontiff's health deteriorated this week, but he appears to be in a stable condition for now. Benedict is 95.
ReligionDecember 30, 2022
Pope Benedict XVI

Vatican: Health of former Pope Benedict is 'worsening'

Pope Francis has asked for prayers for his predecessor, who was the first pontiff to resign in several centuries.
ReligionDecember 28, 2022
Pope Francis waves as he delivers his traditional Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi message

Christmas: Pope Francis offers prayers for Ukraine

The head of the Catholic Church addressed the war in Ukraine as part of his traditional address.
ReligionDecember 25, 2022
Reflection of the dome of St. Peter's near St. Peter's Square in Rome

German homeless man dies at St. Peter's Square

The German-born man passed away near St. Peter's Square following several nights "of cold and rain," the Vatican said.
SocietyNovember 25, 2022