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Raphael drawing for Vatican frescoes set to fetch record �16 million at sale

20.10.09

Study by the Renaissance master Raphael for one of his frescoes in the Vatican is set to smash records when it is sold next month... more

Vatican supports call to teach Islam

19.10.09

The Vatican has surprisingly welcomed a proposal to teach Islam in Italian schools... more

Wrist surgery for Pope after fall on holiday

17.07.09

Pope Benedict XVI has had an operation to repair a fractured wrist after suffering a fall while on holiday in Italy... more

Vatican gives its blessing to Harry Potter

14.07.09

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WORLD: Obama�s talks on abortion with the Pope

25.06.09

Barack Obama is to be given an audience with the Pope when he travels to Italy next month... more

Not enough guilty pleasures in Angels & Demons

15.05.09

Author Dan Brown and director Ron Howard have committed the sin of leaving out the guilty pleasures in Angels & Demons.... more

A pilgrimage to spectacular Rome

13.05.09

The Da Vinci code sequel - released this week - uses Christianity's most important city as a backdrop. Melanie McDonagh went on a pilgrimage to see some of its most spectacular sacred sights... more

Prince and the Pope - Charles and Camilla have first audience with Benedict

27.04.09

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall met Pope Benedict in the Vatican... more

Turin Shroud kept hidden for 100 years

06.04.09

The Turin Shroud was hidden by medieval knights after the Crusades, the Vatican claims, apparently solving the riddle of what happened to the relic for more than 100 years... more

Who is Religulous calling saviour?

02.04.09

Larry Charles made Borat and directed Seinfeld for television. This time comedian and agnostic Bill Maher is his star in Religulous.... more

Vatican rushes to defend Pope's condom claim

19.03.09

The Vatican has been forced to defend Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to condoms as a means for stopping the spread of Aids... more

Il Divo is extraordinary summation of Andreotti

19.03.09

No more imaginatively shot and directed film has reached us from Italy in recent years than Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo.... more

Cut-price drink costs our country too much

17.03.09

The leafy square in Stockwell on which I live has a particular seasonal music, which starts up in spring and goes on till autumn... more

Bishop 'sorry' for comments on Holocaust bishop says sorry

27.02.09

A British Catholic bishop who caused uproar by denying the scale of the Holocaust has apologised for his views after widespread condemnation... more

Bishop who called Harry Potter satanic quits

16.02.09

A conservative priest whose promotion to bishop has polarised the Catholic Church in Austria has asked Pope Benedict to revoke his appointment because of the uproar it caused... more

Promotion for cleric in gay sin row

02.02.09

An Austrian cleric who said Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for the homosexual sins of New Orleans has been made a bishop by the Vatican... more

Tribute to hanged Catholics

30.01.09

A monument to the hundreds of Catholics executed for their faith is to be built in the heart of London... more

Fury as Pope says gays are threat to human existence

23.12.08

The Pope was under fire after saying that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was as important as preserving the rainforests from destruction... more

'What a lovely audience!' - or how Brucie felt when he met the Pope

12.09.08

His catchphrase 'What a lovely audience... so much better than last week' was a favourite with game-show fans. But let's hope Bruce Forsyth refrained from using it during an audience with the Pope. ... more

Taxpayer foots �700,000 bill for Blair's farewell

22.07.08

Tony Blair's "farewell tour" before quitting office cost taxpayers more than £700,000, it was revealed... more

Trial runs for Wall Street's finest

30.06.08

It's muggy here - a point emphasised by the increasing number of sweating brows I've watched on TV the past week, brows belonging mainly to men in suits who are on their way in and out of courthouses on charges of white-collar crime... more

Anne Hathaway's ex arrested on fraud and money laundering charges

25.06.08

The ex-boyfriend of Hollywood star Anne Hathaway has had his bail set at �10m after his arrest on fraud and money laundering charges.... more

Please let it be any nation but Germany for glory at Euro 2008

30.05.08

Matthew Norman has a bad feeling about Germany, very little idea when it comes to Chelsea, and high hopes for Andy Murray... more

Brooding Suchet brings charisma to the confessor

03.07.07

Much to Nicholas de Jongh's surprise, the death of an obscure 20th-century Pope provides inspiration for a beguiling theatrical whodunnit in The Last Confession.... more

Suchet's act of faith

19.06.07

A thriller based on the death of Pope John Paul I could become the West End's least likely hit. The story will continue to fascinate, says its star David Suchet... more

Death at the Vatican

13.06.07

David Suchet is to play Pope John Paul I in The Last Confession at the Theatre Royal, a play examining the mysterious death of the liberal Pontiff.... more

Sleuthing in the Vatican

09.05.07

David Suchet excels at detective work in the Vatican in The Last Confession - the West End might need to ready itself for some Papal palpitations.... more

Simply sublime

02.04.07

Italian Renaissance paintings and drawings in the Royal Collection, now exhibited at the Queen's Gallery, offer pure pleasure and delight and must be the envy of the world.... more

After the gore, the goo

07.12.06

After being whipped around Jerusalem by The Passion of the Christ, we are now covered in sticky goo by Catherine Hardwicke's film The Nativity.... more

Guilty pleasure of naughty but nice girls

04.12.06

The Pussycat Dolls' mission seems to be to teach a generation of women the finer arts of pole dancing yet their Wembley show was remarkably chaste.... more