The ways in which small city-states safeguard their sovereignty are sometimes similar, sometimes different. The CNA series ...

As Pope Francis from his hospital bed rolls out a new 3-year implementation process for his Synod of Bishops on Synodality, ...

Pope Francis is recovering from a chronic lung disease, according to reports. The 88-year-old pope isn’t out of the woods yet ...

Vatican City, the world's smallest country, hasn't seen a birth in 96 years due to its unique population of celibate clergy ...

Sister Raffaella Petrini was named Saturday as president of the Vatican City State, making her essentially the governor of the 44-hectare (108-acre) territory in Rome that is home to the Catholic ...

Pope Francis has named two secretaries-general to serve under Franciscan Sister Raffaella Petrini in the Governorate of the Vatican City State, giving the Vatican’s first woman president “the ...

With Pope Francis entering his fourth week in hospital, those working in the Apostolic Palace are grappling with the ...

The office governing Vatican City State was set to have a new president March 1 and, while in the hospital, Pope Francis changed the office's statutes to give the new president two top-level ...

For more than two weeks, eyes have been on the Vatican, awaiting news about Pope Francis' health. The pope has been at Rome's Gemelli Hospital since Feb. 14, 2025, being treated for double pneumonia ...

The Vatican houses the central government of the Catholic Church and is also an independent city-state. The pope is both the head of the Catholic Church and head of state. In order to govern both, he ...