2,000 Buses Of Visitors: Rome Braces For Canonization Crowds
The day after Easter, St. Peter's Square was packed.Caramba Camarra, a Gambian volunteer with Opera Romana Pelligrinaggi, the Vatican-run pilgrimage agency, said he had never seen so many people lined...
View ArticleUN Committee Grills Vatican Officials On Sex Abuse
Transcript MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: For the second time this year, Vatican officials were subjected to scathing questions by a U.N. panel. The questions focus on the church's handling of cases of sexual...
View ArticleU.N. Panel Could Find Vatican Guilty Of Torture
Transcript RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin. The Vatican got a grilling this past week for its handling of the clerical sex abuse scandal. The setting - a...
View ArticlePope To Travel To Holy Land With Rabbi And Muslim Leader
The first non-European pope in modern history will makes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land this week, a region with centuries of religious strife.Francis — the first pope to take the name of the saint of...
View ArticleThe 1,000-Year-Old Schism That Pope Francis Seeks To Heal
Pope Francis travels this weekend to the Middle East, the cradle of the three monotheistic religions, and will meet with Catholic, Jewish and Muslim leaders.But the official purpose of the visit is to...
View ArticlePope Meets Sex Abuse Victims, Bearing A Plea For Forgiveness
Transcript ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: At the Vatican today Pope Francis had his first meeting with victims of clergy. He vowed to hold bishops accountable for the protection of children. The meeting came...
View ArticleThis Fine Wine Made At An Italian Penal Colony Is No 2-Buck Chuck
Eighteen miles off Tuscany's coast, Gorgona is Italy's last island prison. Its steep cliffs rise up from azure Mediterranean waters. Here, a select group of convicts serves the end of long sentences by...
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Over 2 Years Since Its Wreck, The Costa Concordia Floats Again
The Costa Concordia cruise crashed into a reef and capsized in waters off the island of Giglio in Italy over two years ago. On Monday, the most complicated part of the operation to refloat the ship was...
View ArticleItaly Undertakes Lonely, Expensive Mission To Aid Migrants At Sea
On the outskirts of Rome, far from the coast, there's a top-security compound where Italy is trying to tackle one of Europe's major crises: the rising flows of unauthorized migrants making perilous...
View ArticleVatican Synod Tests The Pope's Vision Of A More Merciful Church
Pope Francis has summoned bishops from all over the world to Rome to discuss issues concerning families – including hot-button issues like artificial contraception and gay civil unions.The meeting,...
View ArticleIn 'Season Of Mercy,' Will Vatican Rethink Communion For Divorcees?
Some 200 bishops from around the world are gathered at the Vatican for a two-week assembly to discuss issues related to the family, including artificial contraception, premarital sex and ministering...
View ArticleFor Italy's Gay Rights Advocates, It's 1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back
Ancient Rome may have been open to all sorts of sexual mores, but modern Italy is less so. The country lags far behind its European Union partners in guaranteeing equal rights for homosexuals.Gay...
View ArticleCatholic Synod Highlights Divisions, Sets Stage For Future Battles
Over the past few decades, assemblies of Roman Catholic bishops meeting in Rome, known as synods, have been predictable events that have always upheld the viewpoints of the reigning pope.But with the...
View ArticleIn A Land Of Few Christians, Pope Will Reach Out To Muslims In Turkey
Pope Francis is heading to Turkey for what could be one of the most challenging trips of his young papacy.The three-day visit, which begins Friday, will be a mix of the religious and political, with...
View ArticlePope Francis And His Gift For Blending The Spiritual And The Political
In the 21 months since his election, the first pope to take the name of Saint Francis has emerged as a moral leader on the global stage, addressing both Catholics and the world beyond.A recent Pew...
View ArticleDecades After His Murder, An Archbishop Is Put On Path To Sainthood
Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most prominent and controversial religious figures in Latin America when he was gunned down in 1980 during the early stages of El Salvador's civil war.
View ArticlePapal Group Considers Sanctions On Bishops Who Cover Up Abuse
A commission advising Pope Francis on how to tackle clerical sex abuse of minors has completed its first full meeting at the Vatican.
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Pope Encounters Resistance On Some Reforms
Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Transcript RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: When Pope Francis was elected two years ago, he had a mandate from the College of Cardinals: restore...
View ArticleWith New Cardinals, Pope Aims To Widen Horizons Of Church Leadership
The Vatican was a sea of red vestments Saturday, as Pope Francis formally elevated 20 new cardinals. In a solemn ceremony known as a consistory, the second in Francis' two-year-old papacy, he presided...
View ArticleDutch Soccer Fans Vandalize Rome's La Barcaccia Fountain
Some 7000 fans of the Rotterdam soccer team Feyenoord are believed to have traveled to Rome for yesterday's Europa League game against AS Roma.The game ended in a draw, 1-1, a needed anticlimax after...
View ArticleJames Bond Meets His Match — The Roman Cobblestone
The headline in today's La Repubblica was, "The streets of Rome bring Bond to a standstill — car hits pothole, Craig suffers head injury."The newspaper reported that the accident occurred while actor...
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For Women's Day, Group Takes A Messge To The Vatican
Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Transcript RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: Today is International Women's Day, and the Vatican is opening its doors to a group of women from all over the...
View ArticleArchitect Renzo Piano: The Future Of Europe's Cities Is In The Suburbs
Architect Renzo Piano spends one week a month in his hometown of Genoa, Italy. His house-workshop is perched 300 feet above the Mediterranean Sea and can only be reached by a glass-enclosed funicular...
View ArticleRome's Plan For Prostitutes Upsets Sex Workers And The Catholic Church
On Rome's southern outskirts, EUR is a middle- and upper-middle class neighborhood full of parks and office buildings. With tens of thousands of people coming and going every day, the neighborhood has...
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Latest Mediterranean Incident Highlights Italy's Migrant Crisis
Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Transcript LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: I'm Linda Wertheimer. In just the last week, Italy has rescued some 11,000 migrants fleeing war and poverty...
View ArticleFor Europe-Bound Migrants, Desperation Outweighs Risks
After a two-month wait in Libya, Hassan Silla, a 35-year-old from Sierra Leone, made the sea crossing from northern Africa to southern Italy on a smuggler's boat last February.As one of 76 migrants on...
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Relentless Flow Of Migrants Causes Alarm In Italy
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View ArticleRome's Cinematic 'Dream Factory' Ramps Up Production Once Again
It's just 15 miles south of Rome, but it looks more like ancient Jerusalem.Welcome to the vast backlot at Cinecittà, the sprawling movie metropolis where the original Ben-Hurwas filmed, and a remake is...
View ArticleItaly's Berlusconi Discovers Social Media As A Campaign Tool
Italy holds regional elections Sunday, and one politician trying to make a comeback is the scandal-plagued former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.Taking his cue from Italy's digitally savvy young...
View ArticleAt World's Fair In Italy, The Future Of Food Is On The Table
For the next six months, Italy is hosting a dinner party — and the entire world is invited to attend.The event, called Expo Milano 2015, is the latest World's Fair. This year's theme is "feeding the...
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