The Vatican City State court has returned guilty verdicts against the former director of the Sistine Chapel Choir, its former manager and his wife on charges of embezzlement and misappropriation of funds raised at concerts in Italy and abroad.
The celebration of a Holy Year every 25 years is an acknowledgment that "the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps toward the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus," Pope Francis wrote.
During two days of meetings, Pope Francis and his closest cardinal advisers discussed the relationship between local churches and other institutional church assemblies, a main topic of discussion to come out of the Synod of Bishops on synodality.
Pope Francis praised a new ceasefire reached in Lebanon, prayed for Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza, and appealed to world leaders to help put an end to the war in Ukraine.
Decades of clergy sex abuse scandals are an "existential threat" to the Catholic Church and can only be remedied through transparency and prioritizing survivors, said the Australian ambassador to the Vatican.