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President Obama and Pope Francis met for the first time at the Vatican. The meeting is intended to mark a fresh start for the administration's sometimes-strained relationship with Catholic leadership.

The elections of President Obama and Pope Francis made history — Obama as the first African-American U.S. president and the Argentine-born Jorge Bergoglio as the first non-European pope in centuries.

For decades, U.S. presidents have sought an audience with the pope, and President Obama will have one Thursday. But this wasn't always the case, and often there have been political differences.

Following two doctrinally conservative leaders, Pope Francis' pastoral approach in his first year has given the Catholic Church a new glow. But it's still unclear where he intends to take the church.

Italy detains tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from North Africa and locks them up in harsh conditions. Now it is pushing to revamp the system at home with an eye toward a Europe-wide plan.

Imagine: a papal People magazine. It's not far-fetched. A new magazine, My Pope, is covering the weekly activities of Pope Francis — and it's put out by a publisher known for celebrity gossip rags.

The Eataly food emporium plans to open a $55 million theme park in Italy, devoted to the nation's culinary pleasures. Some have dubbed it the "Disneyland of food," but Italians aren't impressed.

The choices reflect the pope's belief that the church leadership should resemble the changing makeup of its members. New cardinals come from the Philippines, Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast and Haiti.

The Vatican is vowing to defeat the Church of England — not in the pews but on the cricket pitch. The Vatican has launched a cricket club, which draws from seminarians and priests of different nationalities who live and study in Rome. It's hoped the club will forge ties with teams of other faiths.

Seven months into his papacy, Pope Francis is shaking up the Catholic world, with outspoken interviews and cold calls to ordinary people. But some Catholic conservatives are deeply uncomfortable and worried that the Vatican has lost control of the papal message.

Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino has openly opposed a U.S. punitive strike against Syria and has joined other government ministers and leading personalities adhering to Pope Francis's call for a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria. On Saturday, the pope lead a long mass and peace vigil in St. Peter's Square.

Legend has it that an innkeeper caught a glimpse of the goddess of love in her bedroom and then rushed to his kitchen to create an egg pasta inspired by Venus' belly button. Today the art of making tortellini is endangered, but several groups are devising creative ways to preserve the tradition.

Ai Weiwei, the world-renowned Chinese artist and dissident, has created a deeply autobiographical work for the Venice Biennale exhibit. It is a series of dioramas about his life as a political prisoner, when he was jailed for criticizing the corruption and shoddy construction that caused the deaths of 5,000 children when schools collapsed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Congo-born Cecile Kyenge's appointment in April as integration minister was hailed as a landmark for diversity. Instead, the mood of racial progress in Italy has suffered. The debate highlights growing intolerance and what the prime minister has called a shameful chapter for the country.

Many cities hold arts festivals during the summer. Rome joined the party last Saturday as part of a larger effort to radically revamp traffic and make the area around the Coliseum and other monuments more welcoming for pedestrians.

Every two years, Venice hosts the largest and oldest noncommercial art exhibit in the world. It's a dizzying and eclectic array of sights by both celebrity artists and total unknowns. More than 150 artists from 88 countries will be on display through November.

There's no proof that Giovanni Palatucci saved the lives of 5,000 Jews, say historians who studied a trove of wartime documents. Supporters of Palatucci are fighting back, as Holocaust museums pull exhibits on the Italian policeman who had been on the track to sainthood.

After some 20 trials over two decades, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi received his first definitive conviction Thursday for evading taxes. That ruling could undermine the fragile coalition government.

Italy's top court has upheld a conviction and prison term for Italy's most prominent politician, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, on charges of tax fraud. This the first time he has been definitively convicted, after 20 years in which he was accused of multiple transgressions. However, the supreme court will now reconsider the law that would bar him from holding high office because of the conviction. This could allow the shaky coalition that governs Italy to remain in place.

The Italian city welcomes tourists, but there's been a backlash to the 650 cruise ships that sail down the canals and tower over the city. The city government and the Venice Port Authority have agreed to search for solutions.