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White House says Vatican meeting to focus on poverty and inequality as president also plans meeting with Italian president Paul Lewis ...

s asset management division, had been served with an arrest warrant on suspicion of using offshore accounts to funnel millions of euros in fake donations through his accounts at the institution. Scarano, already under house arrest following his high-profile detention last June , was accused alongside another priest and a notary. Police said on Tuesday they had made seizures of assets and property worth...

secret society of homosexuals' at Holy See, and that it imperils pope's security A former commander of the Swiss Guard, the small force of men whose job it is to protect the pope, has said there is "a network of homosexuals" within the Vatican, the latest in a series of claims about gay priests working at the heart of the Roman Catholic church. Elmar Mäder, who was commandant of the Guard from 2002...

s former sex crimes prosecutor has pledged. Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the most authoritative Catholic official on the church's abuse crisis, said on Saturday that the number of clerics defrocked by the Vatican was likely to have fallen to about 100 in 2013 from about 125 in 2012 and a peak of 260 in 2011. Scicluna said Francis would, despite his merciful nature, be very tough on paedophile priests...

As UN ambassador faces questioning in Geneva, first document to number cases dealt with shows 400 priests were defrocked in two years ...

s former sex crimes prosecutor, acknowledged that the Holy See had been slow to face the crisis but said that it was now committed to doing so. He encouraged prosecutors to take action against anyone who obstructs justice – a suggestion that bishops who moved priests from diocese to diocese should be held accountable. "The Holy See gets it," Scicluna told the committee. "Let's not say too late or not....

s choices better reflect the makeup of the church as a whole. But will it be enough to close the gap between ordinary worshippers and the Vatican on issues such as birth control? Making cardinals is a tricky business for a pope. They do two things in the church – they elect the next pope, and they concentrate in themselves the organisation's sense of power and self-importance. A traditionalist cardinal...

princes of the church' eligible to vote for future popes Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, is to become a cardinal after Pope Francis included him on a list of 16 new "princes of the church" eligible to vote in papal conclaves. At a ceremony known as a consistory on 22 February, the Argentinian pontiff will create his first batch of cardinals who, clad in their distinctive red hats, represent...

s Square during audience and invites him into car Papal audiences usually entail peering at the pontiff through a sea of pilgrims' heads. For the lucky few, there might be a passing wave, a blessing for the sick or a kiss for a baby. But Jorge Bergoglio proved once again on Wednesday that he will gladly tear up the rule book of papal protocol, inviting an old friend from Argentina to ride with him...

s peace address, saying the heart of humanity seemed to have gone astray and too many people were indifferent to war, violence and injustice. The pontiff, who took his papal name from St Francis of Assisi, the saint most associated with peace, urged the world to listen to the "cry for peace" from suffering peoples. "What on earth is happening in the hearts of men? What on earth is happening in the...

The world celebrates with spectacular firework displays lighting up the sky across the globe James Murray ...

s two most senior diplomatic representatives. The contents of the message were not disclosed by the Vatican, which said in a statement simply that Joseph Sweid, a Syrian government minister, had met both Francis's secretary of state, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, and foreign secretary, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti. "The delegation brought a message from President Assad for the Holy Father and outlined...

s, saying thoughts at Christmas turn to the most vulnerable Pope Francis has addressed his first Christmas message to every man or woman "who hopes for a better world, who cares for others while humbly seeking to do his or her duty". He appeared at the vast balcony at the front of St Peter's basilica to be greeted by screams fit for a pop star. Below him in St Peter's Square was a crowd brimming with...

Church leader likens birth of Jesus to a burst of light on the sometimes dark moments of human history ...

Pope Francis meets predecessor Pope Benedict XVI at his home in the grounds of the Vatican in Rome ...

s retirement home during the visit on Monday. They also prayed together in the adjoining chapel. Benedict was looking well, using a cane for support while they stood in prayer. It is the first time the interior of Benedict's home has been shown publicly; the sitting room and furniture are all white and an Advent wreath decorates the coffee table. Since Benedict...

s challenge to play cricket match The histories of cricket and the Church of England have often intertwined. The late David Sheppard opened for England and became bishop of Liverpool. Robert Runcie , a less talented player, sometimes preached to biblical texts with cricketing associations, as in: "And they went out at noon. But Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions" ( I Kings 20:16...

t expecting much. The media value of the event was, on paper, strictly limited: Pope Benedict XVI was due to fix a date for the canonisation of the 15th century Otranto martyrs, but that was about it. It was a holiday in the Vatican. Chirri's shift was looking quiet. After the pope had made his saintly announcement, however, she began to realise that something else was going on. The pontiff had...

s Square are unknown A man has doused himself with petrol and set himself on fire in St Peter's Square in the Vatican City. The Vatican said on Thursday that the 51-year-old man had been treated at a nearby hospital and transferred to a larger one, with serious burns to the upper part of his body. A Vatican statement said a Jesuit priest initially tried to smother the flames with a jacket. He was later...

s 77th birthday, as the pontiff invited some homeless men to his residence to share a meal with him. The interactive – which can be viewed on the Vatican's website – contains more than 30 photos of the pope accompanied by quotes from various homilies he has given over the past nine months. The Vatican said the pope marked his birthday with his customary morning mass in the guest house where he has...