Smith, 79, was in Rome to perform a show in the city's Circus Maximus on July 27. Although she does not consider herself Catholic, the rock legend wore a Franciscan Tau cross during her audience with the pope.
Pope Leo XIV said the conscience of just one person can "be worth the entire world" when it comes to preventing a nuclear catastrophe, in a new book foreword that also quotes an unpublished Bob Dylan song about the atomic bomb.
Weeks after the release of a synod study group report on controversial pastoral issues, experts have continued to express mixed opinions about the document's treatment of same-sex attraction.
The proceedings remain underway, the Holy See Press Office said July 22, rejecting as "completely unfounded" rumors that the case had concluded and absolved the artist and former Jesuit of any wrongdoing.
Despite the controversy surrounding synodality, the pope's ministerial record shows that the principles of a participatory church are deeply embedded in his pastor's DNA.
For traditionalist Catholics who worship at churches affiliated with the breakaway Society of St. Pius X, Sunday Mass now comes with an extraordinary question.
Much has been done to mitigate rates of HIV and AIDS, but more work remains as children are still vulnerable to the virus and the disease it causes, said the Holy See's diplomatic representative to the United Nations in a July 10 address.
