Pope Francis baptises 21 babies in annual ceremony at the Sistine Chapel

Vatican City AP Pope Francis baptised 21 babies in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday under the ceiling frescoed by Michelangelo, in what has become an annual tradition that marks the end of the Christmas holiday period at the Vatican. Francis celebrated the Lord’s gift of faith to the children, stressing they were the protagonists of […]
Catholic Jubilee: For some, the Pope’s big Holy Year only aggravates housing crisis as overtourism pushes out Romans

NICOLE WINFIELD and ISAIA MONTELIONE, of Associated Press, report from Rome as the city prepares to host a Catholic Jubilee year…
Wow!: Steady hearts, steady hands as Vatican experts restore masterpieces

PHILIP PULLELLA, of Reuters, reports on the work of the artwork restorers at the Vatican Museums…
Pope Francis invites artists to the Sistine Chapel as the Vatican seeks a new cultural dialogue

Vatican City AP Pope Francis praised artists on Friday as true visionaries who can see, dream and invent as he welcomed 200 artists, filmmakers and writers into the Sistine Chapel to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Museums’ contemporary art collection. Francis acknowledged that some in the crowd – there was Andres Serrano, of Piss […]
Exploring sacred sites: How virtual reality technology is opening up access from the comfort of home

LUIS ANDRES HENAO, of Associated Press, reports on how virtual reality technology is providing new access to sacred sites around the world…
Postcards: Sistine Chapel key-keeper opens up after lockdown

PAOLO LUCARIELLO and ELISA COLELLA, of AP, report from Vatican City…
“Welcome back!” Several famed museums reopen across Europe

Amsterdam, The Netherlands AP In the Netherlands, the intimate gaze of the Girl with the Pearl Earring can once again startle and entice visitors. Down in Spain, the rusty maze of steel sheets by Richard Serra is a wonderland anew for art lovers. And at the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam can drop […]
Sight-Seeing: The hands of God for a healing new year

Writing from the US, BRIAN NIXON, in an article first published by ASSIST News Service, looks at the use of hands as a metaphor in the Bible…
High art meets high-tech in Vatican 3D film about Raphael

RNS Italian actor Flavio Parenti, as Raphael, in a scene from the Sistine Chapel in the 3D film ‘Raphael – Prince of the Arts’. PICTURE: Sky and Nexo Digital He was a child prodigy who became one of the most famous artists in the world, and more than six million tourists come to see his […]