Sylvia Poggioli

The pedestrian and cyclist path would make use of a one-mile stretch of abandoned, elevated concrete track. "You are still in the city," Renzo Piano says, "but you are flying above the city."

In the 1960s and '70s, Piano was involved in the battle to revive decaying historic centers of cities. Now the Pritzker Prize-winning architect is fighting to save their often desolate outskirts.

In a development reminiscent of a Dan Brown thriller, the Vatican confirmed a report that it has received a ransom demand for the return of two stolen letters written by the renaissan...

The headline in today's La Repubblica was, "The streets of Rome bring Bond to a standstill — car hits pothole, Craig suffers head injury."

The newspaper reported that the accident occurred while actor Daniel Craig, reprising the role of the suave British spy in the 24th James Bond thriller, Spectre, ...

Some 7000 fans of the Rotterdam soccer team Feyenoord are believed to have traveled to Rome for yesterday's Europa League game against AS Roma.

The game ended in a draw, 1-1, a needed anticlimax after two days of street battles.

On Wednesday, tourists fled and shops hurriedly closed their shutters ...

Italy has recently rescued more than 2,000 migrants off Libya's coast. The holding center on Lampedusa can't handle the surge. Authorities worry Islamist militants might arrive amid the migrants.

At the Vatican this week, the pope's G9 — a committee of nine cardinals — is working on how to overhaul Vatican governance.

Twenty-nine African immigrants have died of exposure after being rescued off the Libyan coast by Italian coast guard patrol boats. More migrants fleeing conflict zones are seeking refuge in Europe.

A commission advising Pope Francis on how to tackle clerical sex abuse of minors has completed its first full meeting at the Vatican. The commission has been criticized for its slow start.

Pope Francis has declared slain Archbishop Oscar Romero a martyr. Previous popes declined to do so, possibly because of Romero's role in liberation theology.

Despite detractors within the church, Pope Francis' emphasis on humility and mercy has won him strong support worldwide. He has addressed thorny issues such as Vatican finances and clerical sex abuse.

The Vatican issued a report praising the work of U.S. nuns — a relief to those worried that a probe started in 2008 would be critical of a perceived liberal streak among American nuns.

Pope Francis will meet with Turkey's Muslim leaders and the head of the Orthodox Church in what may be the most challenging trip of his young papacy.

Roman Catholic bishops openly addressed hot-button topics that included questions about gays and Catholics who are divorced or remarried. Rarely has a synod attracted such attention.

Italy lags behind other EU states in guaranteeing equal rights for homosexuals. Gay couples have no legal recognition or adoption rights, and a bill that would make homophobia a crime has stalled.

Pope Francis hasn't ruled out changing church doctrine that bars divorced and remarried Catholics from receiving Holy Communion. There are fierce opponents, while others favor simplifying annulment.

Pope Francis has summoned bishops from all over the world to Rome to discuss issues concerning families – including hot-button issues like artificial contraception and gay civil unions.

The meeting, called a synod, opened on Sunday and is seen as a test of Francis' vision of a more merciful Church.

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For the first time, the Vatican has put one of its own under house arrest for alleged sex abuse of minors. Josef Wesolowski is the Vatican's former ambassador to the Dominican Republic and was defrocked in June.