Sistine Chapel

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  Vatican to Give Homeless Private VIP Tour of Sistine Chapel

  In Pope Francis's latest gesture towards Rome's homeless, the Vatican said on Tuesday homeless people will get a special private tour of its museums and the Sistine Chapel.

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  Michelangelo's Last Surviving Bronzes 'Identified in Britain'

  The only two surviving bronzes by Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo are thought to have been identified with the help of a tiny clue in a 500-year-old sketch, British researchers said on Monday.

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  Feel Free to Breastfeed in Sistine Chapel; Pope tells Mothers

  Pope Francis baptized 33 infants in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday and told the mothers to feel free to breastfeed them if they cried or were hungry.

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  Vatican Lit Up by Christmas Hope and Love

  The Christmas lights came on at the Vatican Friday, sending out what Pope Francis described as a message of "light, hope and love" at the end of an extraordinary year for the Catholic Church.

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  Vatican's Sistine Chapel Dazzles After Technological Makeover

  High above the altar in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, the halo around Jesus Christ's head in Michelangelo's famous frescoes shines with a brighter glow, thanks to a revolutionary new lighting system.

• Feed your babies if you want, Pope tells mothers in Sistine Chapel

  Pope Francis baptised 32 babies in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday and told their mothers to have no qualms about feeding them there.

• US eavesdropped on Vatican in run-up to conclave: reports

  US secret services allegedly eavesdropped on cardinals before the conclave in March to elect a new pope, Italian weekly magazine Panorama claimed on Wednesday.

• Italian bishops thank God for wrong pope

  Italian bishops were so convinced that one of their own would become pope that they sent a congratulatory message to the media thanking God for the election of a prelate from Milan.

• Blog: I was there when the white smoke rose, Pope was chosen

  It poured in Vatican City all day on March 13, and yet the crowds waited quietly and patiently in the cold in St Peter's square. The historic moment when the white smoke goes out of the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel, is something everyone wanted to witness. I was there too, and here's how it all unfolded.

• Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina elected new Pope

  Argentine Jorge Bergoglio has been elected pope, the first ever from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium. He chose the name Pope Francis.

• With no pope, a sea gull is stealing the show at the papal conclave

  Smoke watching has become bird watching in St. Peter's Square after a sea gull perched atop the chimney that belches out smoke from the Sistine Chapel to signal whether or not a pope has been elected.

• New pope's choice of name will carry his first message

  Even before he utters his first words in public, the new pope who emerges from the conclave this week will send Roman Catholics around the world a message encoded in the name he chooses.

• White smoke: New Pope elected at the Vatican

  Cardinals elected a new pope to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday, overcoming deep divisions to select the 266th pope in a remarkably fast conclave.

• In Vatican, smoke-spotters at the ready for a new pope

  They came from Australia, Japan or Brazil to do one thing - train their eyes on a chimney pipe attached to the roof of the Sistine Chapel to see if white smoke would appear.

• For cardinals at conclave, cigarette and a tipple to relieve papal tension

  The cardinals locked inside the Sistine Chapel for deep meditation and reflection until they choose a new pope can break off for a smoke or enjoy a glass of wine, the Vatican spokesman said on Wednesday.