WASHINGTON – Following Pope Leo XIV’s historic, 10-day apostolic journey to Africa in April and his call for peace, reconciliation and interreligious dialogue, Catholics in the United States have an opportunity to support those efforts through the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.The fund was created nearly two decades ago by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to support the Catholic Church on a continent where the faith is growing rapidly, but where the Church has limited capacity to support its pastoral needs and faces severe hardships.“The gifts of Catholics in the United States to the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa underwrite projects that build foundations for peace, as well as projects directed toward evangelization, vocations, environmental stewardship, leadership formation, and other facets of our faith,” said Archbishop Thomas Zinkula, chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on the Church in Africa.In 202

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Today's lush and immaculately manicured Vatican Gardens were once just a sprawl of mosquito-infested swamps, clay hillsides and hardy grape vines.The wild, unpopulated landscape on the fringes of early Rome slowly shifted as it changed to accommodate historical events over the course of 2,000 years: the martyrdom and burial of St. Peter; the blossoming of Christianity; the growth of papal power; and the eventual establishment of the world's smallest sovereign nation.The gardens make up almost half of Vatican City State's 109 acres and their colorful evolution is documented in a volume updated in 2016: "A Guide to the Vatican Gardens: History, Art, Nature," curated by historians and experts from the Vatican Library and Vatican Museums. Illustrated with full-color photographs and historic black and white engravings, the book is available in English.In the first century AD, the Roman Emperor Caligula set up a circus for chariot racing near a villa his mothe