With an area of about 110 acres and a population of around 1,000 people, Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, contained fully inside the city of Rome, but its small physical size belies its somewhat outsized influence and power. As the home of the Holy See, the jurisdiction of the pope, Vatican City is the center of leadership for the Catholic Church, the world's oldest and largest continuously operating religious institution. As the home of St. Peter's Basilica, the...
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With an area of about 110 acres and a population of around 1,000 people, Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, contained fully inside the city of Rome, but its small physical size belies its somewhat outsized influence and power. As the home of the Holy See, the jurisdiction of the pope, Vatican City is the center of leadership for the Catholic Church...
The Vatican Palace, where popes have traditionally lived since the 16th century, holds more secrets than bricks and tiles. Some of these secrets are rather sordid, but others are wondrous and rather charming. There is, for example, a rumor that a small bathroom in the palace was painted with scenes of... a rather unchaste nature (via ABC). Located somewhere in...
Pop singer Madonna spent a good portion of the 1980s shocking audiences and courting controversy, and in 1989, her infamy reached new heights when her video for the title track of her album "Like A Prayer" drew negative attention and a call for a boycott from none other than Pope John Paul II. Madonna teamed up with director...
Over the course of her career, Shirley Temple brought joy to both young and old. She became the face of childhood innocence and had the ability to transport viewers to a happier time and place. With the amount of star power this little girl possessed, it's easy to forget that with that kind of fame comes all kinds of things, both good and bad. In addition to...
Here's an interesting tidbit you may not have thought of before now. Think about the men who have served as pope in your lifetime. Francis I, Benedict XVI, John Paul II, and other men who came before them, have all been clean shaven. In fact, every pope for the past 322, since Innocent XII (1691-1700), has been beardless, while Innocent and the 23 popes...
