The Vatican houses the central government of the Catholic Church and is also an independent city-state. The pope is both the head of the Catholic Church and head of state. In order to govern both, he has the Roman Curia, meaning “court.” In modern terms, the Curia is the papal bureaucracy. It is an extension of the pope’s authority.

Doctrine chief Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández discussed the viability of gender dysphoria, while still condemning gender affirming care, in a speech at a theological conference in Cologne in February,

Vatican’s Rigorous Protocol for a Pope’s Passing. Pope Francis, aged 88, remains in critical condition at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. According to Linternaute, Vatican official

The church opposes “the ideology that usually accompanies so many sex-change decisions,” which Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández said is an ideology that claims “omnipotence” and refuses to recognize the reality of one’s body as a gift.

Since Vatican II ended in 1965, the Catholic Church has seen a massive decline in the United States. Why are people leaving?

Pope Francis’s battle with double pneumonia is the most serious health complication the pontiff has suffered from since taking the Chair of St. Peter in 2013.