Nicole Winfield

Pope Francis temporarily had a fever three days after intestinal surgery, but routine tests and scans proved negative, the Vatican said July 8.

Pope Francis' recovery from intestinal surgery continues to be "regular and satisfactory," the Vatican said July 7, as it revealed that final examinations showed he had a suffered a "severe" narrowing of his colon.

 Pope Francis ate breakfast July 6, read the newspapers and took a walk as he continued recovering from intestinal surgery, the Vatican said, declaring his post-operative checks to be "good" and normal.

The Vatican's criminal tribunal has indicted 10 people on charges including embezzlement, abuse of office, extortion and fraud in connection with the Secretariat of State's 350 million-euro investment in a London real estate venture.

Pope Francis insisted July 1 that Lebanon must remain a "land of tolerance and pluralism" as he welcomed the country's Christian patriarchs to the Vatican.

A Rome court has strongly backed Vatican prosecutors in their pursuit of an Italian businessman accused of bilking the Holy See of millions of euros in a London real estate deal, saying he used bad-faith negotiations, last-minute contractual changes and a web of accomplices.

Italian police searched the offices of a Sardinian charity and diocese on June 9 on behalf of Vatican prosecutors who are investigating a once-powerful cardinal on alleged embezzlement charges.

European evaluators warned June 9 that the Vatican's efforts to investigate and prosecute financial crimes were suffering from understaffing and inexperience, as well as the mistaken belief that its own cardinals and bishops were immune to criminal conduct.

Lebanon, a Mediterranean nation of 5 million, has the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East and is the only Arab country with a Christian head of state. Christians make up a third of the population.

Pope Francis has changed church law to explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who abuse their authority and to say that laypeople who hold church office can be sanctioned for similar sex crimes.

One night in early 2019, Rome street artist Alessia Babrow glued a stylized image of Christ she had made onto a bridge near the Vatican. A year later, she was shocked to learn that the Vatican had apparently used a reproduction of the image, which featured Babrow's hallmark heart emblazoned across Christ’s chest, as its 2020 Easter postage stamp.

Pope Francis met May 13 with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, months after Argentina legalized abortion despite a personal appeal from the pontiff and opposition from the Catholic Church.

The CEOs of vaccine-makers Pfizer and Moderna joined cardinals, academics and the lead guitarist of Aerosmith in opening a unique Vatican conference on COVID-19, other global health threats and how science, solidarity and spirituality can address them.

The Vatican secretary of state has intervened personally to shed light on one of the most sensational Vatican scandals of recent times: The 1998 murder of the Swiss Guard commander and his wife, purportedly by a disgruntled younger Swiss Guardsman who then took his own life.

Pope Francis has sent another message to Vatican-based cardinals and bishops about his intent to hold them accountable for criminal misconduct: He removed the procedural obstacles that had spared them from being prosecuted by the Vatican's criminal tribunal.

Pope Francis issued tough new anti-corruption regulations April 29 that require Vatican cardinals and managers to periodically declare they are investing only in funds consistent with Catholic doctrine and aren't under criminal investigation or stashing money in tax havens.

Pope Francis responded April 28 to reports of poor governance, financial mismanagement and moral failings in the Ecuadorian diocese of Riobamba by accepting the resignations of the retiring bishop and his heir apparent.

Pope Francis met with Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on April 22 and urged all Lebanese political leaders to commit to the common good as the country amid crises that have prevented the formation of a government. 

A Rome judge ordered the arrest Monday of an Italian businessman living in London who is a prime suspect in the Vatican’s two-year investigation into the Holy See’s 350-million-euro investment in a London real estate venture.

Pope Francis celebrated a surprise Holy Thursday Mass with the cardinal he fired last year, extending an extraordinary gesture to Cardinal Angelo Becciu by celebrating the liturgy that commemorates Jesus' Last Supper with his apostles before his crucifixion.