Vatican

By BosNewsLife News Center TRIPOLI/ROME/WASHINGTON (BosNewsLife)-- Italian police say they have detained 15 Muslims who allegedly threw 12 Christians from an overcrowded migrant boat after they expressed faith in Jesus Christ. Vatican Radio, citing survivors, reported that the Christians had been praying for their lives during during a recent crossing from Libya.

Listen to this BosNewsLife report via Vatican Radio:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife ZAGREB/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)--Croatian researchers have trained bees to detect tens of thousands of land mines that are still buried throughout the country following the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Those involved in the project hope to help reduce the number of victims.

By Philippa Hitchen reporting from Vatican City VATICAN CITY/ROME (BosNewsLife)-- Rome's most famous landmark, the Colosseum, will be lit up in red on Saturday, February 24, as a sign of solidarity with all those facing persecution for their faith. They include a Pakistani mother of five on death row who is expected to be released soon amid international pressure, family and organizers said.

By BosNewsLife News Center VATICAN CITY (BosNewsLife)-- Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, from Argentina has been elected pope. As Pope Francis, as he will be known, appeared in front of a huge crowd packing St. Peter's Square, he asked the faithful to pray silently for him at a time of turmoil in the church.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife with additional reporting from Vatican and BosNewsLife Research VATICAN CITY (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Benedict XVI, who oversaw the Catholic Church through nearly eight turbulent years, says he will resign on February 28 because of health reasons. "Before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are [no] longer suited to an adequate exercise" of his position as head of the world’s one billion Roman Catholics, he said in a statement Monday, February 11.

By Sabina Castelfranco reporting from Rome ROME, ITALY (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Benedict delivered his traditional Christmas Day "blessing" Friday, December 25, just hours after being knocked to the ground by a woman at the start of Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. The Vatican said the 82-year-old Benedict XVI was unhurt and that his busy Christmas schedule would remain unchanged.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Anti-abortion activists have welcomed a ruling by a Hungarian court which found eight people guilty over harvesting embryonic stem cells and tissue for use in cosmetics, amid government efforts to protect life from the moment of conception.

By BosNewsLife News Center with reporting by Philippa HitchenVATICAN CITY, VATICAN CITY, VATICAN (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Francis and leaders of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) group agreed Thursday, December 14, to cooperate on tackling the "worst persecution" of Christians in church history despite "major theological differences", officials said following talks in the Vatican.

By BosNewsLife News Center VATICAN CITY, VATICAN (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Francis urged the world on Easter Monday not to remain “silent and inactive” amid the "unacceptable crime" of the persecution of Christians around the world.

By BosNewsLife News Center with additional reports from Rome, Vatican City and reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos ROME/VATICAN CITY/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- As the doors closed and the Swiss Guards left his summer residence, Benedict XVI became the first pontiff to retire in some 600 years, following a moving farewell address to thousands in which he urged the Catholic Church to remain united in one of the most challenging times in its history.