https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Italy in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Pope Francis plans to visit Ireland in August next year, the Vatican confirmed on Thursday, four months after Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny announced what will be a landmark trip. https://www.thelocal.it/20170330/vatican-confirms-popes-ireland-visit Thu, 30 Mar 2017 17:34:17 +0200 vatican-confirms-popes-ireland-visit Pope Francis went to Milan on Saturday where he met families on a working-class housing estate and visited a prison before celebrating mass for hundreds of thousands of faithful in nearby Monza. https://www.thelocal.it/20170326/pope-in-milan-region-to-rally-for-those-in-need Sun, 26 Mar 2017 14:14:16 +0200 pope-in-milan-region-to-rally-for-those-in-need Pope Francis has shrugged off recent in-fighting in the Vatican and other stresses of his job by joking: "I am not on tranquilisers". https://www.thelocal.it/20170209/pope-reveals-anti-stress-secrets-and-its-not-prozac Thu, 09 Feb 2017 13:04:00 +0100 pope-reveals-anti-stress-secrets-and-its-not-prozac Who needs a summer palace? Not Pope Francis, who has renounced the delights of Castel Gandolfo outside Rome and opened his private apartments to tourists, the Vatican said on Friday. https://www.thelocal.it/20161015/pope-francis-opens-castel-gandolfo-palace-to-public Sat, 15 Oct 2016 11:37:03 +0200 pope-francis-opens-castel-gandolfo-palace-to-public Cars used by Pope Francis in Poland during the Catholic Church's World Youth Day festival went under the hammer Monday to raise funds for Syrian refugees. https://www.thelocal.it/20160927/pope-cars-auctioned-off-to-help-syrian-refugees Tue, 27 Sep 2016 19:19:49 +0200 pope-cars-auctioned-off-to-help-syrian-refugees Pope Francis on Saturday called for a "sincere dialogue" between Christians and Muslims as he met grieving relatives and survivors of France's Bastille Day attack, in which a jihadist ploughed his truck into a crowd. https://www.thelocal.it/20160924/pope-calls-for-christian-muslim-dialogue-as-meets-nice-victims Sat, 24 Sep 2016 17:43:09 +0200 pope-calls-for-christian-muslim-dialogue-as-meets-nice-victims Retired pope Benedict XVI fell in love during his student days in Germany and struggled with the idea of celibacy, said the author of a new book to be published on Friday. https://www.thelocal.it/20160908/interviewer-reveals-secrets-of-ex-pope-benedict Thu, 08 Sep 2016 10:43:46 +0200 interviewer-reveals-secrets-of-ex-pope-benedict French President Francois Hollande will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday to discuss the aftermath of the jihadist murder of a French priest, Hollande's office said on Monday. https://www.thelocal.it/20160816/frances-hollande-to-meet-pope-after-priest-killing Tue, 16 Aug 2016 11:38:45 +0200 frances-hollande-to-meet-pope-after-priest-killing An Italian woman died on Monday from meningitis after attending the Catholic World Youth Day in Poland with hundreds of thousands of other young pilgrims, the Italian Conference of Bishops said. https://www.thelocal.it/20160802/italian-pilgrims-death-sparks-meningitis-scare Tue, 02 Aug 2016 10:13:31 +0200 italian-pilgrims-death-sparks-meningitis-scare Pope Francis on Monday named a former Fox News correspondent to head up the Vatican press office and appointed the tiny state's first-ever female deputy spokesperson. https://www.thelocal.it/20160711/ex-fox-news-correspondent-named-vatican-spokesman Mon, 11 Jul 2016 17:56:32 +0200 ex-fox-news-correspondent-named-vatican-spokesman With Italian lessons and strolls around Rome, the 12 Syrian asylum seekers Pope Francis brought back with him from Lesbos are settling into new lives, their hosts said on Monday. https://www.thelocal.it/20160418/popes-refugee-families-settle-into-roman-life Mon, 18 Apr 2016 16:50:47 +0200 popes-refugee-families-settle-into-roman-life Elizabeth "Lizzy" Myers, a little American girl who is losing her sight to a rare genetic disease, got her wish on Wednesday to meet Pope Francis. https://www.thelocal.it/20160406/little-lizzy-gets-wish-to-see-pope-before-going-blind Wed, 06 Apr 2016 16:27:39 +0200 little-lizzy-gets-wish-to-see-pope-before-going-blind Italians might be enjoying the popularity of Pope Francis, who was named the world’s most popular leader in a poll just a few days ago, but that doesn’t mean to say they practise his religion. https://www.thelocal.it/20160330/the-popes-still-catholic-but-half-of-italians-arent Wed, 30 Mar 2016 18:25:21 +0200 the-popes-still-catholic-but-half-of-italians-arent A former PR consultant to the Vatican on trial along with four others for leaking or publishing secret papers said on Thursday she would not ask Pope Francis for a pardon. https://www.thelocal.it/20160108/vatileaks-suspect-will-not-plead-for-pope-pardon Fri, 08 Jan 2016 09:07:44 +0100 vatileaks-suspect-will-not-plead-for-pope-pardon Modern society, he said, was "so often intoxicated by consumerism and hedonism, wealth and extravagance, appearances and narcissism". https://www.thelocal.it/20151225/pope-calls-on-christians-to-reject-consumerism Fri, 25 Dec 2015 10:04:35 +0100 pope-calls-on-christians-to-reject-consumerism A European body that combats money laundering and terrorist financing on Tuesday told the Vatican to start prosecuting people found to have used its scandal-hit bank and asset management body for criminal ends. https://www.thelocal.it/20151215/eu-body-asks-vatican-for-real-results-on-murky-finances Tue, 15 Dec 2015 14:38:21 +0100 eu-body-asks-vatican-for-real-results-on-murky-finances UPDATED: Pope Francis on Tuesday marked the start of an extraordinary Jubilee year for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics by opening a "Holy Door" in the walls of St Peter's basilica. https://www.thelocal.it/20151208/pope-opens-the-door-to-catholic-jubilee Tue, 08 Dec 2015 09:53:39 +0100 pope-opens-the-door-to-catholic-jubilee Pope Francis will this week launch an "extraordinary" Roman Catholic Jubilee on the theme of mercy during which priests will be allowed to absolve women who have had abortions. https://www.thelocal.it/20151207/jubilee-year-on-theme-of-mercy-to-kick-off-tuesday Mon, 07 Dec 2015 09:15:41 +0100 jubilee-year-on-theme-of-mercy-to-kick-off-tuesday Italy has increased security at its historic monuments in the Vatican, Rome and Milan after a warning from the FBI of possible jihadist attacks, media reports said on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.it/20151119/fbi-warns-italy-of-terror-plots-against-monuments Thu, 19 Nov 2015 07:57:43 +0100 fbi-warns-italy-of-terror-plots-against-monuments Wiretaps of the pope's private conversations allegedly recorded by a racy social climber and a Spanish prelate are rocking the Catholic Church after confidential information including claims of theft and debauchery was passed to investigative journalists. https://www.thelocal.it/20151104/spying-on-the-pope-vatican-leaks-reveal-dirty-dealings Wed, 04 Nov 2015 09:36:57 +0100 spying-on-the-pope-vatican-leaks-reveal-dirty-dealings