Pope Francis sent Vatican firefighters and gendarmes to assist the population
It was 3:36 a.m. on 24 August 2016 when a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the central Apennine mountain range, near the border between the regions of Lazio, Umbria, Marches and Abruzzo. The epicentre was located between Accumoli and Amatrice, towns that were devastated along with Arquata del Tronto.
True beauty in the signs of love
“The glorification of Mary in body and soul teaches us that our true beauty does not consist in concealing the signs of passing time, but in showing, impressed even upon our flesh, the signs of the love that never ends (cf. 1 Cor 13:8).”
Poverty lived with joy
“The acceptance of frailty as an instrument for personal sanctification and as a means through which God can act had, for Clare, a very precise name: poverty lived with joy.” With these words, Bishop Vincenzo Viva of Albano presided over the concelebrated Eucharist on the feast day of Saint Clare of Assisi on Tuesday afternoon, 11 August, at the Poor Clares’ Monastery of the Immaculate Conception, located within the territory of the Pontifical Villas in the town of Albano.
The history and practices of sustainable cultivation in the Vatican Gardens
In the Vatican Gardens, next to the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, lies a small vegetable garden whose history stretches back to the Middle Ages. It was Pope Nicholas III Orsini who, when he transferred the papal residence from the Lateran to the Vatican between 1277 and 1280, also commissioned an orchard and a proper viridarium [elegant garden], enclosed within the new walls: a productive space that also helped supply the papal kitchen.
Saint Paul Preaching in Athens
As of August 4th, a new tapestry has been on display in the Hall of the Popes at the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo. It is titled Saint Paul Preaching at Athens and is part of the celebrated series of tapestries illustrating the Acts of the Apostles, commissioned by Pope Leo X (1513–1521) to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel. The tapestries were woven between 1515 and 1521 by Flemish workshops based on preparatory cartoons by Raphael Sanzio (1483–1520) and his workshop.
On Tuesday, August 4th, a meeting was held in the Green Room of Palazzo Chigi in Rome to formally establish the Italy–Holy See Joint Commission which will oversee the construction of the agrivoltaic plant in the Vatican’s extraterritorial area of Santa Maria di Galeria on the outskirts of Rome.
The new Fundamental Law of the Vatican City State responds to the need, as stated in its Preamble, to take account of new requirements of governance and of a number of significant legislative developments that have taken place in recent years.
The new Vatican collector coin set, the first issued during the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, draws direct inspiration from the Pope’s coat of arms, reproduced on the cover with a chalk-effect finish and embossed on an ivory background. Deep blue color highlights the inscriptions and key graphic elements, echoing the colors of the two heraldic fields of the papal coat of arms. This same color palette will become prominent in the new packaging design that will accompany future numismatic issues. This is not merely an aesthetic choice, but a genuine tribute to – and direct reference to – the new pontificate.
Renewed Beauty and Original Color
A renewed Saint Agatha, restored by Vatican experts to its full splendor thanks to the meticulous conservation work on the reliquary that once covered her tomb.
The “Concert in Honor of the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV” was held on the evening of Saturday, 18 July, in the Courtyard of the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, in the presence of the Pope. The event was offered by the Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano as “a gift to the Holy Father, to express our closeness and affection for him through a moment of authentic beauty.”
