British physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking has been hospitalised in Rome for checks after not feeling well but his condition

A group of children from a South Taranaki primary school are appealing to the Pope to intervene in an international kidnapping case involving a very special bear.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be canonised a Catholic saint on Sunday in Rome, but commemorations in Auckland will involve people of many faiths.

The Vatican's third most senior official admitted that the Roman Catholic Church made "enormous mistakes" in ignoring decades of sexual abuse of children by priests.

Many gay activists are cheering Charamsa's action, heralding him as a Vatican whistleblower.

Jozef Wesolowski, 66, was supposed to appear before a tribunal within the walls of the Vatican to face charges of paying underage boys for sexual acts.

Pope Francis has taken his embrace of homeless people a step further by allowing a tramp to be buried inside the Vatican for the first time in the history of the Holy See.

The cardinals who elected Pope Francis 18 months ago had no inkling that he would turn out to be such a "rock star" pontiff, two "princes of the church" have said.

A group of 26 Italian women who claim to be having affairs with Roman Catholic priests have written a joint letter to the Pope begging him to end the Catholic Church's ban on priests having sex and getting married.

A selection of images celebrating the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis' election as Bishop of Rome.

The Vatican is forming its own cricket team, which will be called St Peter's Cricket Club.

Investigators in Rome are combing through the 19,000 accounts held by the Vatican's bank in search of money laundering and other crimes.

The Vatican has asked Brazil for an additional €30 million ($49.5 million) to help cover an expected shortfall in funding for the visit of the Pope to Rio de Janeiro this month.

A Vatican official already under investigation in a purported money-laundering plot involving the Vatican bank was arrested yesterday in a separate operation.

Pope Francis has attacked the "dictatorship" of the global financial system and warned that the "cult of money" is making life a misery for millions.

It is known throughout the Vatican as the Relatio (Narration). It is contained in two stiff, unmarked red folders and runs to around 300 pages.

Last week, the Herald featured a delightful cartoon by Guy Body, showing rows of small cloned cardinal lookalikes.

Yesterday was Pope Benedict's last day in office, but the words customarily used to announce that we have a new Pope, "Habemus Papam", are likely to be a long time in coming.

Tucked away in the leafy south-east corner of the Vatican City, lies the small monastery where the Pope will spend the rest of his days in quiet prayer and contemplation.