A Vatican archivist discovered a letter to Pope Pius XII's personal secretary from a Jesuit priest in Germany, who was active in the resistance against the Nazis, reporting that thousands of Poles and Jews were being incinerated daily in a Polish concentration camp.

Pope Francis accepted the letters of credential of Russia's new ambassador to the Holy See, Ivan D. Soltanovsky, who officially began his mission four months after his predecessor left Rome.

Any limitations and rules regarding media access and communications during the upcoming Synod of Bishops are rooted in the "essence" of a synod and meant to help participants in their process of discernment, said the head of the synod's communication committee.

The Synod of Bishops is not a television show or a parliamentary debate, and its discussions will not be open to the public or to reporters, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis continues to make surprise additions to the College of Cardinals with plenty of "firsts," and perhaps the most surprising of those "firsts" this time is just how many cardinal electors there will be.

Thanking a group of European lawyers for their attention to environmental protection laws, Pope Francis said he was preparing another document on the subject.

The Vatican investment office made 32.27 million euros (about $35.2 million) in profit in 2022 and contributed the entire amount to the Vatican's operating budget, said Bishop Nunzio Galantino, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See.

As controversy and deep division continued in an Indian archdiocese over the direction the priest faces during the celebration of the liturgy, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis named Slovak Archbishop Cyril Vasil of Košice as his pontifical delegate to help resolve the dispute.

When the Ulma family is beatified Sept. 10 as martyrs who gave their lives to protect Jews during the Holocaust, it may be the first time the Catholic Church has beatified an entire, specific family together, as well as the first beatification of an unborn child.

The Vatican's chief prosecuting attorney began his closing arguments outlining final charges against 10 defendants, including a cardinal, stemming from an investigation launched in 2019 by internal reports of suspicious financial activity.