“What they did was portray an astronaut offering the moon to Jesus,” Angelo Bottone said. “To me, it’s an expression of profound worship.”

There is much on which a Biden administration and the Holy See can collaborate.

The Vatican unveiled its official Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square on Friday evening, surprising some with its depiction of an astronaut and another figure wearing a Darth Vader-esque helmet coming to adore the Christ child.

Pope Francis will celebrate the Vatican’s traditional Christmas “Mass during the Night” at 7:30 p.m. so that the few people invited to attend can get home before Italy's 10 p.m. curfew.

Pope Francis continued his overhaul of the Vatican’s troubled finances by approving a new rule aimed at improving oversight and transparency for the Catholic Church’s anti-money laundering agency.

Cardinal Parolin, 65, was admitted for surgery for an enlarged prostate, common in men over 50, and it is expected to leave the hospital in a few days.