It was Boxing Day last year when the acclaimed British writer Hanif Kureishi – author of the Buddha of Suburbia – was hospitalised after a fall in Rome that left him paralysed. Since then his family have helped him share his pain, frustration and creativity via moving – and sometimes darkly comic – outpourings on social media.
There’s been a mixed response from European leaders to Theresa May’s impending departure.
Jonathan Rugman
If the Vatican under Pope Francis can recommit itself to helping the poor, while becoming more forgiving, then the Catholic church will have been rescued by a revolutionary with a message of simplicity and inclusivity.
Jon Snow
Could Pope Francis be the global leader to challenge our comfort by highlighting the inequalities that exist in the world?
The wait is over, but who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio and as Pope Francis does he have the ability to connect with Catholics around the world?
All 115 runners and riders lined up in the paddock of the Basilica to celebrate Mass, all dressed in splendid red and white, writes Jonathan Rugman in Rome.
Jon Snow
The setting for the papal conclave is as stunning as ever, but the spectacle now fails to obscure the difficult questions for the faithful and those who would lead them.
Jon Snow
It’s probably the most innovative thing he’s done as Pope. Something no other Pope has done in over six hundred years – resign.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is the Vatican’s top diplomat. Which is scary, because what he said in Chile this week defies all norms of diplomatic behaviour. As I said on Channel 4 News last night, the Vatican does not seem to have heard of the cardinal rule: “when you are in a hole, stop digging”; and…