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The trial against Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu and ten others for financial crimes opens in the Holy See. Becciu and a monsignor are the only two to appear in court in person. Becciu denied any wrongdoing and the trial was adjourned. Pope Francis had previously stripped Becciu of his immunity and approved his indictment. Becciu's lawyers asked the court not to order the Cardinal's arrest.
2021-07-27

The Vatican Press Office announces that all journalists to accompany Pope Francis on his March trip to Iraq must receive a Covid vaccination. Certificates of vaccination are required for reporters seeking press credentials for the trip.
2021-02-22

On New Year's Day, Pope Francis livestreams his message from the library of the Apostolic Palace. He states "the Virgin Mary’s motherly care encourages us to use our God-given time for building up the world and peace, not destroying it." In the Catholic Church, January 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.
2021-01-1

Pope Francis makes a public statement acknowledging that some priests and bishops in the Catholic Church have been sexually abusing nuns.
2019-02-5

Pope Francis arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos. Francis is expected to visit the Moria detention facility, where he will have lunch with some of the 3,060 men, women, and children there.
2016-04-16

The President of Cuba, Raul Castro, is received in an official private audience with Pope Francis, who will become the third Pope to visit the still officially Communist island before visiting the U.S. this October. Some restrictions on exercise of religion, and a few restrictions on other rights, have been lifted or relaxed, especially after Pope John Paul II's historic 1998 meeting with Fidel Castro, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's trip during his reign, and especially in 2014 and earlier this year, after Raul and Francis and U.S. President Barack Obama's diplomatic team dramatically improved U.S.-Cuba relations. President Castro went there to thank Francis, whom he publicly has stated his admiration for, for his efforts, and spoke of the possibility of converting and of officially restoring the Church.
2015-05-10

Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, announces that Pope Francis will hold a consistory for the creation of new cardinals Feb. 14-15, 2015. Fr. Lombardi spoke during a briefing with media at the end of the Council of Cardinals that met in the Vatican Dec. 9 – 11.
2014-12-11

Popes John XXIII and John Paul II are declared saints by Pope Francis in the first papal canonization since 1954.
2014-04-27

Pending approval from Pope Francis, reports that Pope John Paul II may be canonized at the end of the year are confirmed after approval by the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints of an alleged second miracle.
2013-07-2

Giving his first audience at the Vatican, Pope Francis tells journalists he wants "a poor Church, for the poor".
2013-03-16