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  • “Capture Nature” in the Vatican Gardens

    An itinerary for families promoted by Vatican Museums in the “green lung” of the State

    Two hours in the Vatican Gardens, in the green heart of Vatican City State, is a project promoted by Vatican Museums and aimed at parents with children. Launched on 13 July and lasting through 26 October, “Capture Nature” offers the first guided tour dedicated specifically to families, where they can spend two hours in the Vatican Gardens, immersed in nature and learning outdoors. The tours take place on Saturdays. The itinerary in nature is inspired by Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si’ and has the aim of raising awareness in adults and children on issues related to care for creation and protecting our Common Home.

  • “Cattura la natura” nei Giardini Vaticani

    Un itinerario per famiglie promosso dai Musei Vaticani nel “polmone verde” dello Stato

    Due ore nei Giardini, nel cuore verde dello Stato della Città del Vaticano. È l'iniziativa “Cattura la Natura” promossa dai Musei Vaticani rivolta a genitori e figli, che ha preso avvio, sabato 13 luglio, e si concluderà il 26 ottobre. Ogni sabato le famiglie possono approfittare del primo tour guidato dedicato appositamente a loro per trascorrere due ore nei Giardini Vaticani, all’insegna della natura e dell’apprendimento all’aperto. Il particolare percorso tra il verde è ispirato all’Enciclica Laudato sì' di Papa Francesco e vuole sensibilizzare adulti e bambini sui temi della tutela del creato e della salvaguardia della Casa comune.

  • 100th fountain in Vatican Gardens dedicated to Saint Joseph

    A fascinating unicum

    On Monday, 5 July 2010, during his address for the inauguration of the new fountain in the Vatican Gardens dedicated to Saint Joseph, Benedict XVI said, “It is a work that increases the artistic patrimony of this enchanting green space in Vatican City, full of historical and artistic testimonies of various epochs. Indeed, not only the lawns, the flowers, plants and trees, but also the towers, pavilions, small temples, fountains, statues and other buildings make this garden into a fascinating unicum”.

  • 13 September: SAINT JOHN CHRISTOPHER, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

    He suffered to bear witness to the Gospel

    ‘Glory to God, in all things’: with these words, on 14 September 407, Saint John Chrysostom, ‘Golden Mouth’, so called because of his oratorical art and eloquence, concluded his earthly pilgrimage. Born in Antioch in a year between 344 and 354, he devoted himself to the study of rhetoric and letters under the direction of the famous Libanius. After finishing his studies, he became fascinated by the world and became involved in theatre and debate. Shortly afterwards, however, he prepared himself for baptism and received it on an Easter Sunday of an unspecified year. He then attended the Diodorus Circle, a kind of seminary where theological studies could be done. During that time, he became interested in exegesis of the Holy Scriptures and learned the historical-literary method of the Antioch school. He then spent six years living a hermit's life, first on Silpius Hill, near Antioch, and then in a cave in solitude and penance.

  • 15 August: Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven

    “For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”.

  • 21 August: Liturgical memorial of Saint Pius X

    The Pope of Catechism and of the First Holy Communion of children

    Saint Pius X, in the world Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, wrote the following words in his will and testament: “I was born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor”. He was a Pope from a humble social background, who was elected to the See of Peter, after going through all the steps of the ecclesiastical career: Chaplain, Parish Priest, Bishop, Cardinal and Patriarch.

  • 22 August: Liturgical memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

    Not a distant sovereign, but a tender Mother who is close to us

    “From the earliest ages of the catholic church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother's solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen”. With these words in the Encyclical Letter Ad Caeli Reginam, of 11 October 1954, Pius XII instituted the liturgical feast day of the “Queenship of the Blessed Virgin”.

  • 24 August: Saint Bartholomew the Apostle

    An Israelite without guile

    Bartholomew was one of the twelve disciples who followed Jesus after the Baptism in the Jordan River. His name is included in the Synoptic Gospels as one of the Apostles linked to his contemporary Philip. We know little about this Apostle, whose Feast Day is celebrated on 24 August, the day Catholic tradition dates as his martyrdom. He was originally from Cana in Galilee, near Nazareth. Jesus said of him: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” (Jn 1:47). In his Gospel, John speaks of Nathanael, who is Bartholomew, at least according to the exegetes.

  • 26 August: Liturgical memorial of Blessed John Paul I

    The space of a smile

    “Our new Blessed lived that way: in the joy of the Gospel, without compromises, loving to the very end.  He embodied the poverty of the disciple, which is not only detachment from material goods, but also victory over the temptation to put oneself at the centre, to seek one’s own glory”, Pope Francis said in his homily for the Beatification of John Paul I, in the world, Albino Luciani, held in Saint Peter’s Square on 4 September 2022.

  • 5 September: Saint Teresa of Calcutta

    The little pencil in God’s hands

    “God still loves the world and He sends you and me to be His love and His compassion to the poor”, Mother Teresa often told people she met, involving them in charity towards those in need. She was convinced that in serving the poorest of the poor, one should not simply act as social workers, but as brothers and sisters who seek out other brothers and sisters. Her charity was fuelled by faith. It was not just philanthropy. Mother Teresa felt the urgent need to lift people from their misery, but she also believed in the importance of bringing to them the message that God is love and that his love translated into attention to their condition. Her thoughts regarding this were very clear: “God has identified himself with the hungry, the sick, the naked, the homeless; hunger, not only for bread, but for love, for care, to be somebody to someone; nakedness, not of clothing only, but nakedness of that compassion that very few people give to the unknown; homelessness, not only for a shelter made of stone, but that homelessness that comes from having no one to call your own.”

  • 8 September: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

    The Birthday of the Mother of Jesus

    The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are united in their celebration of the Nativity of Mary. This feast was born in the East and was introduced to Rome by Sergius 1, in the seventh century. On that day, a procession would leave from the Church of Sant’Andrea al Foro, and head to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. According to the liturgical Calendar, the Feast Day was celebrated on 8 September. In the East, the Nativity of Mary had been celebrated since the 4th century and was linked to the construction of the Basilica of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, which was built on the site of Anne and Joachim’s house, where Mary was believed to be born. From Jerusalem the recollection of the nativity of Mary spread to Constantinople, where the Eastern Church linked it to the Conception. It should be noted that the Church celebrates the birth on earth and in heaven only of Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist.

  • A delegation of the Governorate meets Rome’s Facilities Team of the Tri-mission of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See

    Challenges and accessibility in work environments and respect of the historical and artistic heritage

    The theme of accessibility, which is part of a larger American programme called Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) was at the heart of the encounter between a delegation of the Governorate of Vatican City State and the Tri-mission Rome’s Facilities Team of the Embassy of the United States of America to the Holy See.

  • A stamp that unites Saint Peter’s Cupola and the Panama Canal to celebrate the centenary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Panama

    This year marks the centenary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Panama. To commemorate the event, on 21 May, the Governorate of Vatican City State issued a stamp, produced by the Post and Philately Service.


    The stamp will be presented, with the symbolic official cancellation on stamped envelope, on Wednesday afternoon, 21 August, at the end of a eucharistic celebration in Rome’s San Lorenzo in Damaso Basilica, presided by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State.

    Sister Raffaella Petrini, General Secretary of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and the outgoing Ambassador of Panama to the Holy See, H.E. Miroslava Rosas Vargas, will attend the presentation. A commemorative volume for the centenary of diplomatic relations will also be offered.

    The image of the stamp features two flags and two symbolic images of the two nations: the Cupola of Saint Peter and a landscape that ideally unites the Panama Canal depicting a sunrise on the Pacific Ocean and a sunset on the Atlantic Ocean, that can only be seen in this part of the world.

  • A stamp to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the United States of America

    On Monday, 16 September, a stamp will be presented in the Conference Hall of the Vatican Museums by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga

    Forty years ago, the Holy See and the United States of America began diplomatic relations. The Governorate of Vatican City State will issue a stamp by the Post and Philately Service of the Directorate of Telecommunications and Information Systems, to commemorate the anniversary.

  • Agreement between the Governorate and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation for securing marble cladding for the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

    For another thousand years of splendour

    "The Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls - Jubilee 2025": is the theme of the Agreement between the Governorate of Vatican City State and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan, which will be signed on Wednesday morning, 11 September, in the Palace of the Governorate, by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate, and Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and executive Director.

    Cardinal James Michael Harvey, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saintt Paul Outside the Walls, Sr. Raffaella Petrini, General Secretary of the Governorate, Mr Ilgar Yusif oğlu Mukhtarov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Holy See and Mr Salvatore Farina, Director of the Directorate of Infrastructures and Services, will participate in the signing ceremony.

    The project is funded by the Foundation for the safety and preservation of the marble cladding and decorative apparatuses of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, in preparation for the upcoming Jubilee. The intervention was necessary to ensure the public’s safe transit and passage into the Basilica, as structural movements and widespread rise in water have degraded the marble cladding of the walls and of the columns of the naves.

    During the restoration works, the marble surfaces that decorate the aisles and transept of the Basilica will be covered for protection.

  • Apertura dell’account Instagram ufficiale del Governatorato

    Il Governatorato dello Stato della Città del Vaticano, di fronte alle mutate abitudini in materia di informazione degli ultimi anni, modernizza e digitalizza la sua comunicazione.

    Rientra in questo ambito l’apertura di un account Instagram Governatorato_SCV.

  • Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga bestowed with the Order of the Quetzal of Guatemala

    A sign of friendship between the Vatican and Guatemala

    Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Pontifical Commission of Vatican City State and President of the Governorate, has been awarded with the highest national honour of Guatemala, the Order of the Quetzal. The award ceremony was held on Thursday morning, 20 June, in the Palace of the Governorate. Guatemalan Minister, Ambassador Carlos Ramiro Martínez Alvarado, and Alfredo Vásquez Rivera, Ambassador of Guatemala to the Holy See, attended the ceremony as representatives of the Guatemalan government.

  • Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, concludes Marian Month in the vatican gardens

    Like many small flames before the Heart of Mary

    Hundreds of tiny flames, like many pleas brought before the Heart of Mary so they may reach her Son’s Heart, lit a long procession through the Vatican Gardens on Friday evening, 31 May. The procession ended at the Grotta di Lourdes. A large number of faithful participated in the recital of the Rosary, surrounded by the light of the flambeaux, and listened to the concluding reflection of Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

  • Conferimento del premio speciale “Marisa Bellisario” a Suor Raffaella Petrini

    Il premio speciale “Marisa Bellisario”, promosso dalla Fondazione omonima, è stato conferito a Suor Raffaella Petrini, Segretario Generale del Governatorato dello Stato della Città del Vaticano.

    La cerimonia di premiazione della XXXVI edizione si terrà a Roma il 14 giugno.

  • Consegnata al Governatorato la prima navetta elettrica

    Il Governatorato dello Stato della Città Vaticano nella realizzazione del programma di sviluppo della mobilità sostenibile, lanciato nel novembre dello scorso anno e denominato “Conversione Ecologica 2030”, continua a sostituire gradualmente le vetture di proprietà dello Stato con veicoli elettrici, al fine di rendere il proprio parco auto a impatto zero entro il 2030.

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