Pope Benedict XVI was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Benedict chose to be known as "Pope emeritus" upon his resignation, and he retained this title until his death in 2022.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine.
Angelo Raffaele Sodano, GCC was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and, from 1991 onward, a cardinal. He was the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 to 2006; Sodano was the first person since 1828 to serve simultaneously as Dean and Secretary of State.
Georg Gänswein is a German prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Papal Household from 2012 to 2023 and was the Personal Secretary of Pope Benedict XVI. He was a Professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross for about a decade and has been an archbishop since 2012. He is currently Honorary Canon of Freiburg Cathedral.
Jean-Pierre Ricard is a French prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Bordeaux from 2001 to 2019. He has been a cardinal since 2006. He was previously Bishop of Montpellier for five years and before that an auxiliary bishop in Grenoble. From 2001 to 2007 he was president of the French Episcopal Conference.
Leonardo Sandri is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who has been a cardinal since November 2007 and vice dean of the College of Cardinals since January 2020. He was prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches from 2007 to 2022. He served in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1974 to 1991 in several overseas assignments, including as permanent observer of the Holy See before the Organization of American States from 1989 to 1991, and in Rome as Substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State from 1999 to 2007.
Kevin Joseph Farrell KGCHS is an Irish-born prelate of the Catholic Church who has been a cardinal and has served as prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life since 2016. In 2019, he was appointed Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church as well.
Federico Lombardi is an Italian Catholic priest and the former director of the Holy See Press Office. He succeeded Joaquín Navarro-Valls and was succeeded by Greg Burke.
Giuseppe Bertello is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2012, who was President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State from October 2011 to October 2021. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 to 2011; became an archbishop in 1987; held appointments as Nuncio to several countries, including Rwanda, Mexico, and Italy; and was the Holy See's representative to a number of international organizations.
Ettore Balestrero is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See.
The Holy See Press Office publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the Roman Curia. All speeches, messages, documents, as well as the statements issued by the Director, are published in their entirety.
Giuseppe Versaldi is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was the prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education from 2015 until that body was merged into the new Dicastery for Culture and Education in 2022. He served as president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See from 2011 to 2015. Before that he was Bishop of Alessandria. Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the rank of cardinal on 18 February 2012.
Paolo Sardi was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the Roman Curia. He was patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 2009 to 2014.
Santos Abril y Castelló is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church. After a career in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, he held a number of positions in the Roman Curia and from 2011 to 2016 was Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Fabián Edgardo Marcelo Pedacchio Leániz known as Fabián Pedacchio is an Argentine priest of the Catholic Church who served from 2013 to 2019 as a personal secretary of Pope Francis. He works on the staff of the Congregation for Bishops where he worked from 2007 to 2013. Before that, in Argentina, he fulfilled assignments as a parish priest for fifteen years and served on church tribunals at the national level.
Pope Francis has created cardinals at nine consistories held at roughly annual intervals beginning in 2014, most recently on 30 September 2023. The cardinals created by Francis include 142 cardinals from 70 countries, 24 of which had never been represented in the College of Cardinals. His appointments include the first Scandinavian since the Reformation, the first from Goa since an episcopal see was established there in 1533, the first from Latin America's indigenous peoples, the first from India's Dalit class, and the first active head of a religious congregation.
The Dicastery for Communication is a division (dicastery) of the Roman Curia with authority over all communication offices of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Its various offices can be accessed through its website. These are the Pope's website and other offices such as Vatican News on internet, the Holy See Press Office, L'Osservatore Romano, Photograph Service, Vatican Radio, Vatican Press, and the Vatican Publishing House. The Pontifical Council for Social Communications has been subsumed into this new Dicastery.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The Holy See reported the first case of infection in Vatican City on 7 March 2020. Unlike other jurisdictions that report cases within a given territory or cases of residents or citizens of a territory, the Holy See reports on cases "in Vatican City State and among the employees of the Holy See" regardless of location of testing, treatment, or residence. There were 29 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the Vatican's residents and employees; there were no associated deaths. The 29 cases included 10 employees, 1 new hire, and 1 resident of Vatican City. All those infected tested negative by 6 June 2020. An outbreak among members of the Holy See's Swiss Guard was reported in mid-October, totaling 11 as of October 15.
Cristiane Murray is a Brazilian radio journalist who serves as the Vice Director of the Holy See Press Office. She worked for Vatican Radio, within the Dicastery for Communication, providing commentary on papal events and international trips as well as managing and producing content in Portuguese for Vatican News' social media platforms. She was appointed by Pope Francis as Vice Director of the Holy See Press Office in 2019, becoming the second woman, after Paloma García Ovejero, and the first Latin American woman to serve in this capacity. The appointment has made her one of the most prominent women in Vatican leadership.
On 31 December 2022, at 09:34 Central European Time (UTC+1), Pope Benedict XVI died at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City at the age of 95. He had been pope emeritus since his resignation as the leader of the Catholic Church in 2013 due to declining health. His death ended a nine-year period during which an incumbent pope and a retired pope both lived within Vatican City.
