As he arrived to Russia for his official three-day visit, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Holy See has a special role on the global scene given its attention to both spiritual and diplomatic themes.

When Melania Trump visited the Vatican alongside her husband and stepdaughter Ivanka Trump on Tuesday, she wore a black veil and dress to follow Vatican tradition for formal visits. While in Brussels on Thursday, Melania sported a beige skirt suit by Belgian fashion house Maison Ullens. She has also been making her own diplomatic choices, including opting not to wear a headscarf during her visit to Saudi Arabia last Saturday. She chose to end this trip, though, with a nod to Gabbana, an iconic Italian fashion house.

While most of the focus for the next nine days will be on President Donald Trump as he makes his first international trip as commander in chief, there will be plenty of eyes on first lady Melania Trump, also set to bow on the global stage. [...] Trump's schedule will be packed with many events alongside her husband, but she will also make excursions on her own. If her handful of public events stateside are any indication, Trump could spend time at schools, hospitals, or museums, just like she did before with Queen Rania of Jordan and China's Madam Peng. 

President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia — the first stop on his first overseas trip, beginning Friday — is designed to solidify its premier partnership with the Muslim world. Over two days hectic schedule, the president will hold bilateral meetings and a summit with the six Persian Gulf states. At a lunch with leaders of more than 50 majority-Muslim countries,Trump will deliver what White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster called “an inspiring, yet direct speech” on his vision for confronting radical ideology, spreading peace and sharing the burdens of achieving both.

The new director of the Vatican museums, Barbara Jatta, presented a new multimedia web site to journalists at the Vatican press office on Monday. The user-friendly site, available in Italian, English, French, Spanish and German, contains thousands of images plus over fifty videos and virtual tours and has taken almost three years to complete.

In a visit to Armenia, Pope Francis has urged the world to never forget the Ottoman-era slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians which he termed a genocide – a characterization likely to cause tensions with Turkey.

Pope Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, highlighting the plight of nearly 4,000 migrants, who, in the wake of the E.U.-Turkey deal, are in limbo waiting to see whether they’ll be granted asylum in Greece or be deported to Turkey. The Vatican also announced the Pope would bring 12 refugees, all of whom are Muslim, back with him to Italy. The Vatican is already hosting two refugee families.