Nicole Winfield

The mother of a Swiss Guard member accused of committing one of the most sensational crimes in recent Vatican history – fatally shooting his commander and the senior officer's wife before killing himself -- is turning to the United Nations and Pope Francis in hopes of getting some closure nearly a quarter-century after the slayings.

Russia has lodged a formal protest with the Vatican over Pope Francis’ latest condemnation of atrocities in Ukraine, in which the pontiff blamed most of the cruelty on Chechens and other minorities in an apparent effort to spare ethnic Russian troops from criticism.

The Vatican's fraud and corruption trial took a dramatic twist on Oct. 12 when a once-powerful cardinal challenged the Vatican's police commissioner on the stand about one of the more peculiar tangents of the case: the Vatican's half-million euro payments to a self-styled security analyst who, with Pope Francis' blessing, helped arrange negotiations for the release of a nun held hostage by Islamic militants.

Abel Ferrara, whose gritty New York exploitation films of the 1980s and 1990s delved into the soulless evils of drug addiction, corruption and sexual violence, pays homage to one of Italy's best-known and most revered saints in his newest film, "Padre Pio."

Pope Francis has taken another step to rehabilitate Cardinal Angelo Becciu, inviting the once-powerful Vatican prelate to participate in an upcoming meeting of cardinals two years after Francis forced his resignation based on purported financial improprieties.

Pope Francis has met with a fourth group of transgender people who found shelter at a Rome church, the Vatican newspaper reported on Aug. 11.

A Vatican cardinal marked the 80th anniversary on Aug. 9 of the gas chamber killing of the Jewish-born Catholic convert Edith Stein by celebrating a Mass near the former Auschwitz death camp and telling the story of his own family's Jewish origins and their fate under the Nazis.

Archbishop Leonardo Steiner attributed his selection to four priorities of the pope: the desire to do more missionary work in the Amazon and to be attentive to the poor; to care for the Amazon "as our common home" and to be a church that "knows how to contribute to the autonomy of Indigenous people."

Restitution of Indigenous and colonial-era artifacts, a pressing debate for museums and national collections across Europe, is one of the many agenda items awaiting Pope Francis on his trip to Canada.

The Vatican said July 1 it had finalized the sale of a London property that is the focus of a criminal trial in the Vatican courts, offloading the former Harrods warehouse for 186 million pounds ($223 million).

Pope Francis has ordered the online publication of 170 volumes of its Jewish files from the recently opened Pope Pius XII archives, the Vatican announced June 23, amid renewed debate about the legacy of its World War II-era pope.

The Vatican on June 23 released the itinerary for Pope Francis' July 24-30 visit to Canada, providing a sign he intends to go ahead with the trip despite knee problems that forced him to cancel a similarly difficult visit to Africa.

One of the principal figures in the Vatican's bungled London real estate venture testified on June 6 that the Holy See would have turned a profit on its valuable investment if it hadn't pulled its money out of a fund prematurely.

A former Vatican official testified May 31 that he was under intense "psychological pressure" to finalize a deal over the Holy See's troubled investment in a London property, but entered into the negotiations without a lawyer and didn't realize the deal got the Vatican nothing in return.

The Vatican's longtime investment banker testified May 30 that he repeatedly voiced concerns about a fund that was investing in a troubled London property, but said the Holy See's secretariat of state insisted on pursuing the deal even as it lost money.

The Vatican said May 31 that Pope Francis will travel to Kazakhstan in September for an interfaith conference, a meeting that may give him a chance to meet with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Pope Francis has sent a protocol greeting to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, assuring him of prayers on his patron's feast day and stressing the value of human life and wisdom.

Pope Francis named a bishop in his own image, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, as the new head of the Italian bishops conference.

The Vatican's financial trial took a series of surreal turns Thursday.

A Vatican cardinal testified  that Pope Francis himself ordered the ouster of the Holy See's auditor-general, turning the tables on a scandal that had sparked questions about the Vatican's commitment to financial transparency and accountability.