The News You May Have Missed: April 2026

Accidental Angel

The restoration of a fresco in an ancient Baroque church in Rome sparked controversy when one of the angels was discovered to bear a striking resemblance to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (ACI Prensa, Feb. 4). The “general angel” is one of a pair flanking the marble bust of Umberto II, the last king of Italy, who reigned briefly in 1946, in a side chapel of the fourth-century St. Lawrence Basilica. The fresco is not an ancient work of art but was painted in 2000 as part of a funerary complex dedicated to Umberto II. Bruno Valentinetti, 83, an amateur painter responsible for the restoration, insisted he didn’t intend to portray Meloni and attributed the resemblance to coincidence. However, Baldassare Cardinal Reina, vicar of the Diocese of Rome, expressed “deep dismay,” saying “images of sacred art and Christian tradition cannot be subject to improper use or instrumentalization.” The controversy ended when Valentinetti covered the angel’s face with white paint. Parish priest Msgr. Daniele Micheletti said “a continuous stream of people” was coming to see the fresco, “not to pray or attend Mass; it was impossible to go on like this.”

Sing a New Song

An Irish pub singer now includes Mass hymns in his gigs, alongside covers and original material. Paul Luby, 27, who’s from County Offaly but lives in Australia, said the Irish Gen Zers he plays to in bars in Sydney and Perth connect instantly with the tunes, singing along and revealing their Catholic upbringing (EWTN News, Feb. 25). Luby, who grew up singing hymns at Mass, said that at a January gig, his banjo player asked if he wanted to try anything different. “Actually, I do, I have a Mass tune,” Luby recalled. “Do you know, ‘Here I Am, Lord’? He’s like, ‘Of course I don’t.’” The crowd loved it and sang the chorus back to him. “It was definitely the song of the night.” By the next morning, a video of his rendition had 500,000 views. Luby says he’s a devout Catholic who would never disrespect the hymns. “I’ve just sped them up a bit.” He released “Here I Am, Lord” on Spotify and will continue performing hymns. “I think they’re great tunes, but more than that, they’re meant to be sung together, you know?”

Home Improvements

The Vatican announced several initiatives marking the 400th anniversary of the consecration of St. Peter’s Basilica later this year (Agence France-Presse, Feb. 16). The entire terrace of the basilica will be accessible” to visitors, compared with only one-third of it today. And though the Vatican previously downplayed reports of a café on the terrace, which stoked concern about commercialization of a sacred place, the “refreshment area” will be doubled. The Vatican also launched a new app for liturgies in the basilica, which will allow pilgrims to follow Mass in 60 languages via real-time audio and text translations on their smartphones. A new real-time booking app will manage crowds via a network of sensors that monitors how many people are inside. Finally, the Vatican presented its “Beyond the Visible” project, a three-dimensional digital model of the entire complex that employs advanced geophysical, geological, topographical, and structural survey technologies to study the foundations and the geological formations beneath the basilica.