Vatican City, Dec 2, 2018 / 10:05 pm (CNA).- The Board of the European Payments Council (EPC) approved last month the extension of the geographical scope of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) to include Vatican City State and the Holy See. Mostly seen as insider news, the decision in fact bespeaks a considerable boost to the financial system of the Vatican.

Vatican City, Dec 1, 2018 / 09:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the Advent season begins, it is a good time to reflect on the Christian call to joyful expectancy, finding hope and consolation in waiting for Christ, Pope Francis said Saturday.

“We Christians are called to safeguard and spread the joy of waiting: we await God who loves us infinitely and at the same time we are awaited by Him. In this way, life becomes a great betrothal,” the pope said Dec. 1.

Vatican City, Nov 30, 2018 / 01:23 pm (CNA).- On the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, Pope Francis told the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople that while the Holy Spirit has in recent years prompted a “fraternal dialogue” between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, both Churches should work to achieve full communion with one another.

Vatican City, Nov 30, 2018 / 10:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- According to the president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, there is a clear link between next October’s focus on missionary work and the synod on the Amazon that makes the convergence of the two events fortuitous.

Pope Francis “underlined this connection between the Extraordinary Missionary Month and the synod for the Amazon,” Archbishop Giampietro Dal Toso told EWTN Friday. “This connection is not a casual one.”