Change comes slowly at the Vatican. On the issue of clerical sexual abuse of children, Rome’s methodical approach has caused Pope Francis to endure barbs for dallying on a pledge to get tough on abusers within the Church.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has requested a special study session at the Vatican to look at how to solve the growing problem of drug abuse, especially narcotics.

VATICAN CITY – The former secretary to a saint and the oldest member of the College of Cardinals died May 26 at the age of 100.

VATICAN CITY – Two members of the Vatican bank's board of supervisors handed in their resignation over a difference in opinion concerning the bank's management.

JERUSALEM – The Holy See has approved the election of Franciscan Father Francesco Patton as the new "custos" of the Holy Land, replacing Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who held the position for 12 years.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will visit the Armenian Genocide memorial complex during a three-day visit to the country in June, a move that may strain the Vatican’s diplomatic relations with Turkey.

VATICAN CITY – The latest "VatiLeaks" trial seemed to have all the makings of a classic courtroom thriller: financial scandal, secrets leaked by an insider and journalists defending their right to blow the whistle on allegations of corruption within a state that is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church.

VATICAN CITY – Italian journalist and author Gianluigi Nuzzi did not plot the release of leaked Vatican financial documents with another journalist and was well within his rights to publish the information he received from a Spanish monsignor, a defense witness told a Vatican court.

BONN, Germany – A German cardinal said names of candidates submitted to the Vatican as potential bishops are being vetoed by "unauthorized people" in Rome. 

TORONTO – One of the most important and troubled projects from the Second Vatican Council arrives in Toronto May 11 for some serious, scholarly and saintly talk.

When U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is honoured next month at the University of Notre Dame, the icon of Catholic higher education in the United States, he will arrive amid sharp criticisms over his appearance.

VATICAN CITY – Italian authorities arrested six suspects who allegedly received orders from the Islamic State terrorist group to attack the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican's financial watchdog agency reported a huge jump in the number of financial transactions flagged as "suspicious" and in the value of assets it has blocked or frozen.
During 2015, the Financial Intelligence Authority "received 544 reports of suspicious activities — almost three times as many as 2014," it said in its annual report, released April 28.

VATICAN CITY – Four months after announcing it had hired the firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an external audit of its finances, the Vatican has suspended the work underway.

VATICAN CITY – U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said attending a Vatican conference on Catholic social teaching did not represent a political endorsement of his run for higher office.