VATICAN CITY – Catholic activist Sister Simone Campbell has suggested that senior clergy at the Vatican are more preoccupied with power than confronting issues that affect the faithful, like clerical sexual abuse.

VATICAN CITY – Although the Holy See reported a deficit of 12.4 million euros ($17.6 million) in 2015, significant progress has been made in the budgeting process and carrying out economic reform, the Vatican said.

ROME – Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins has accused the Vatican bureaucracy of “shameful” resistance to fighting clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church as she quit a key panel set up by Pope Francis.

VATICAN CITY – In an effort to help support the economy of the central Italian region devastated by several earthquakes in 2016, the Vatican has purchased food from local farmers and producers to feed the homeless.

VATICAN CITY – On Wednesday the Vatican announced plans to monitor with a more careful eye those who print official images of the Pope or the Holy See and sell them for profit, intervening with “appropriate action” when necessary.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican and one of Islam’s most renowned schools of Sunni thought are joining forces to discuss how they can work together in combating religious extremism that uses God’s name to justify violence.

VATICAN CITY – When updating the Catholic Church's medical and bioethical charter, experts decided it wasn't enough to aim the guidelines at health care professionals.

VATICAN CITY – In a talk with representatives of Catholic men's religious orders, Pope Francis admitted there’s “corruption” in the Vatican but said he is not troubled by it and is working to reform the church administration.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican has defended its decision to invite China to an organ trafficking summit after an outcry from medical experts and ethicists about the country’s record of using executed prisoners as organ donors.

UNITED NATIONS – Saying poverty is the greatest challenge facing humanity, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations called on nations to seek solutions to poverty not only based on economics but to also address personal, social and environmental factors that contribute to it.

VATICAN CITY – To offer clearly and accurately the Catholic Church's positions on abortion, contraception, genetic engineering, fertility treatments, vaccines, frozen embryos and other life issues, the Vatican released an expanded and updated guide of the church's bioethical teachings.

VATICAN CITY – Ugly churches with bad acoustics don't do justice to the richness and beauty of the liturgy – and it's this connection between art and faith that's vital for priests to understand today, a Vatican official insists.

ROME, Italy – As colder weather settled over Rome last week, two area charities have found ways to reach out to those without food or shelter during the cold winter nights: one by turning a church into a temporary shelter, another by partnering with a newly-opened McDonald’s near the Vatican.

VATICAN CITY – A McDonald’s opening in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica is to offer free meals to the homeless in a move aimed at defusing controversy over the fast food restaurant.

ROME – Pope Francis warned thousands of pilgrims to be wary of criminals seeking to sell tickets to his weekly Vatican audience, which is always free.