Council for Culture Archives

What to do with a deconsecrated church? Better a library than a nightclub

Feb 28, 2020

Bishops and the government in Italy just collaborated on guidelines for what to do with unused churches now up for sale, and the main takeaway, unsurprisingly, is a clear preference for turning them into libraries and community centers versus hotels, discos or nightclubs.

By Elise Ann Allen

Pope reminisces about his youth in talk to children

Jun 10, 2018

Pope Francis told hundreds of children from the poorer neighborhoods of Rome and Milan never to forget their first teachers, in the latest edition of the Treno dei Bambini – the children’s train – on Saturday.

By Crux Staff

Real-world debates permeate Venice Architecture Biennale, as Vatican makes its debut

May 26, 2018

Real-world debates permeate this year’s Venice Biennale on architecture, from commemorating spaces once part of the U.S. slave trade to maintaining the delicate status quo at religious sites in the Holy Land.

By Colleen Barry

Vatican cardinal on a quest for the soul inside the machine

Jun 28, 2017

Modern technological advances are calling into question what it means to be human. Biotechnology is changing people from guardians into creators. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi says these new technologies “have ethical and cultural implications that need to be considered.”

By Charles Collins

Pope Francis meets with children from Italy’s earthquake region

Jun 3, 2017

Nearly 400 children living in the towns in central Italy damaged by a series of earthquakes arrived at the Vatican train station at midday on Saturday on the “Treno dei Bambini” – the children’s train – an annual initiative by the Pontifical Council for Culture. Pope Francis told them when disaster strikes, we must have the “strength to start again.”

By Crux Staff

Vatican effort to talk about women’s issues stirs controversy

Feb 2, 2015

ROME — Cardinals and other Catholic prelates from around the world will gather in Rome this week to discuss women’s issues such as domestic violence, plastic surgery, and women’s contributions to the Church. However, there won’t be any women at the table when the conversation begins, with the Vatican’s latest

By Inés San Martín