VATICAN (SE): The hairline crack in the Vatican glass ceiling crept a bit when Pope Francis appointed two women as undersecretaries in the new dicastery for Laity, Family and Life on November 7.
 
Gabriella Gambino, a professor from the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute, will be the undersecretary for the section on life and Linda Ghisoni, who is now a judge on the marriage tribunal for the Rome archdiocese, will be undersecretary for the section on the laity.
 

VATICAN (SE): The Vatican is putting its stamp on the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, or at least putting the two historical events with significant anniversaries being marked this year on a stamp.
 
The Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Bureau is releasing two postage stamps on November 23, one for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and the other for the 450th anniversary of the birth of St. Francis de Sales (1567 to 1622).
 

VATICAN (CNS): Several young people attending a Vatican-sponsored seminar on the upcoming Synod of Bishops urged the Vatican and the bishops themselves to be opening to listening to young people talk and ask questions about love, sex and sexuality.
 
Twenty people under the age of 35, along with 70 theologians, priests and academics met from September 11 to 15 as part of the preparatory process for the 2018 Synod of Bishops on “young people, faith and vocational discernment.”
 

VATICAN (CNS): Some 2,000 people completed the first ever multi-religious half-marathon (21 kilometres) in Rome, Italy on September 17. The Via Pacis (Peace Road) initiative was sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Culture.
 
According to Monsignor Melchor Sanchez de Toca y Alameda, undersecretary of pontifical council and head of the office’s section on sport, almost 4,000 people also signed up for the shorter, five kilometer fun run.
 

ROME (SE): Hot on the heels of an article appearing in the Vatican magazine, Civilta Cattolica, attacking right wing Catholics in the United States of America (US) for what it called running an ecumenism of hate in cooperation with fundamentalist evangelical groups, a second article has appeared in a different Vatican publication, L’Osservatore Romano, claiming the main obstacle to the reforms Pope Francis wants to see in the Church is the clergy.