Pope Francis has invited a community of Benedictine nuns from Argentina to move into the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens, renewing the building's purpose as home to a cloistered community of women dedicated to supporting the pope's ministry with their prayer.

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.

The flag of Vatican City, yellow and white with crossed keys under the papal tiara, is incorrect in many emojis, flying outside the United Nations and often even on Vatican buildings.

Pope Francis updated the "Fundamental Law of Vatican City State," opening the possibility that laypeople can be members of its governing commission and emphasizing that the independence of the city-state is essential for the mission of the Holy See.

Cardinals and other senior Vatican officials who have been living rent-free in Vatican-owned apartments in Rome will now have to pay "ordinary" unsubsidized rates, Pope Francis said.

Ken Hackett, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, said he was advised early on that diplomacy with the Vatican was about relationships, not transactions.

Three years after Pope Francis appointed him to speed up financial reforms, transparency and budget controls at the Vatican, Jesuit Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves has resigned for health reasons.

Meeting new recruits to the Swiss Guard, Pope Francis thanked the young men for their diligent and important work serving the successor of St. Peter every single day.

Rome is not just another city. ItöÏÓãÊÓƵapp not even an Italian city. It belongs to the world and to God at one and the same time.

Holy See diplomats have 500 years of history behind them