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

ROME (CNS) -- Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington said his decision to remove a high-profile priest as an archdiocesan exorcist was driven by the public way he exercised his ministry, not by his specific beliefs about UFOs.Following comments on social media linking UFOs to demonic activity, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti was removed in early June as an exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington. In one of his first interviews since the decision, Cardinal McElroy told Catholic News Service it should not be interpreted as a judgment on unidentified flying objects or extraterrestrial life, but in what he sees as the proper role of an exorcist within the Catholic Church."It wasn't touching on the question of UFOs," the cardinal said in an interview June 29 at the Pontifical North American College. "My major objection is that I think the traditional role of an exorcist is a very private one. It's a sacred one."Msgr. Rossetti has built one of the largest online followin