Benedict may have some feline company in the Vatican

It looks like Pope Benedict will be able to enjoy the company of cats in his retirement home inside the Vatican.

This curious photo, made available by the Vatican newspaper, shows a black-and-white spotted cat ranging through an area next to the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where the retired pope took up lodgings today.

The Vatican Gardens is said to have a number of stray cats roaming the grounds, and they will find a friend in the former pope. As a cardinal, he famously fed the stray cats in the Borgo neighborhood where he lived, according to Vatican officials.

As pope, we were told he never kept a house cat, but from was rumored to have fed the cats in the Vatican Gardens. Maybe this one is an old acquaintance.

Vatican fresco cleaning reveals images of native Americans

It hasn’t drawn much attention yet, but the Vatican has quietly announced the discovery of what it believes is the first artistic representation of native Americans.

A detail of a fresco by the Renaissance artist Pinturicchio, discovered during restoration work in the Vatican Museums, depicts men dressed only in feathered headdresses who appear to be dancing, and another on horseback.

The painting was completed in 1494, shortly after Christopher Columbus returned from the New World with a detailed description of natives who painted themselves, danced and gave gifts of parrots.

For hundreds of years, the frescoed figures were hiding in plain sight – sort of. They are part of the background in a lunette fresco titled “The Resurrection,” noted for its depiction of Pope Alexander VI, the infamous Rodrigo Borgia, who was elected in 1492.

The detail was obscured by centuries of soot and grime, and came to life only recently when the fresco underwent a careful cleaning by Museum experts.

Vatican Museum director Antonio Paolucci announced the discovery in an article published April 27 by the Vatican newspaper. He stopped short of saying definitively that the figures depicted American Indians, but the newspaper headline was less cautious, proclaiming: “Here is the first image of the native Americans described by Columbus.”

It’s always interesting when the Vatican makes a discovery like this, and it happens more often than you’d think. But usually the finds are made in obscure manuscripts or objects stored away on boxes – not in frescoes seen annually by millions of museum visitors.

New pope is planning encyclical, first foreign trip

There’s some interesting news (and some non-news) out of the Vatican today.

First, it looks like Pope Francis will be finishing ex-Pope Benedict’s encyclical on faith. The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said he would not exclude the possibility that Francis’ first encyclical would be issued later this year. The spokesman noted that before his resignation, Pope Benedict had already done initial work on an encyclical to mark the “Year of Faith.”

Father Lombardi also said Pope Francis would continue to reside in the Vatican guest house, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, instead of moving into the more formal (and much larger) papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. The pope likes his room at the guesthouse, and apparently enjoys the relative freedom of movement it offers him.

“At the moment, he doesn’t seem to want to change his lodging, although this is not a definitive decision,” Lombardi said.

Pope Benedict, meanwhile, is still scheduled to move into a monastic building located behind the Vatican Gardens, probably sometime in early May.

It also looks like Brazil will be the only foreign country visited by Pope Francis this year, the spokesman said. He’ll travel to Rio de Janeiro in July for World Youth Day. Lombardi’s remarks appeared to exclude the possibility that the Argentine-born pontiff would add a stop in his homeland.

Pope Francis is expected to visit Assisi sometime during the year, as well.

Meanwhile, an official said there was no substance to recent news reports that the Vatican was preparing a document on Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics. The denial came from Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family.