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Pope's common touch poses security conundrum

March 18, 2013 22:45
Finding himself near a Vatican exit and hearing people chanting his name outside, during one of his first days in office, Pope Francis responded with an impromptu walkabout that looks set to become a frequent occurrence. The new pope spent several minutes shaking hands and cuddling children, apparently taking as much time as he wanted, as security officials and Swiss Guards looked on nervously. "Security detail in fibrillation, faithful delirious" is how the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano described the scene. The papal bodyguards had better get used to it.

Pope Francis I to rule over world's smallest state

March 13, 2013 17:01
The newly-elected Pope Francis I may be leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics but he only has absolute sovereign powers over the Vatican City, the world's smallest state. The Vatican's unique status was officially recognised in 1929 after the signing of the Lateran Accords between pope Pius XI and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The pope reigns over an area of 44 hectares (109 acres) which is entirely surrounded by the city of Rome and is made up of palaces and churches but also a petrol station, a supermarket and a post office.

German financier named new Vatican bank chief

February 15, 2013 12:30
The Vatican on Friday named a German financier as head of its scandal-hit bank just days before Pope Benedict XVI resigns, saying he would help overhaul the secretive institution. Ernst von Freyberg replaces Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who was unceremoniously sacked by the board on May 24 last year -- a day after the pope's butler was arrested for leaking hundreds of confidential papers from the Vatican.

Outgoing pope prepares for monk's life in Vatican

February 11, 2013 22:00
Pope Benedict XVI, who has announced he will resign on February 28, will retire to a monastery tucked away inside the historic walls of the Holy See: so once the new pope is elected, there will be a former pontiff and his successor living in the Vatican. Benedict, 85, who said he was standing down due to old age, will temporarily stay at the papal summer house at Castel Gandolfo near Rome. During that time, the Mater Ecclesiae monastery building within the Vatican grounds -- an oasis of calm with its own vegetable garden and blooming flowerbeds -- will be renovated.
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