Biden will visit the Vatican to discuss his fight to cure cancer
Vice President Joe Biden, who has traveled to some of America’s leading medical centers in recent weeks as part of what he has called his moonshot to cure cancer, will soon take his quest to the Vatican.
Biden, the nation’s first Catholic vice president, will address a major conference on the progress of regenerative medicine April 29 in Vatican City, his office said Wednesday.
The gathering, hosted by the Stem for Life Foundation and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, will also draw leading physicians, ethicists and philanthropists to discuss the potential of emerging research to treat cancer and other diseases. The initiative has been championed by Pope Francis, who worked as a chemist before he entered the priesthood and has written in support of scientific progress.
Biden will be the latest leading U.S. political figure to attend a major gathering at the Vatican. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, will travel there this week to address a separate summit on social, economic and environmental issues.
Other details on the vice president’s three-day trip to Rome and the Vatican, including a possible meeting with Francis, had not yet been determined, his office said.
Ruling clears way for Perry purchase
A judge on Wednesday voided the sale of a former Catholic convent to a Los Angeles businesswoman, clearing the way for Katy Perry to purchase the hilltop property.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick ruled that attempts to sell the property to the businesswoman by members of an order of elderly nuns were improper.
Perry has sought to buy the hilltop property in the Los Feliz neighborhood for $14.5 million and to relocate an adjoining house of prayer used by priests. Her bid has the approval of Los Angeles’ archbishop but would have to be approved by the Vatican.
The Roman villa-style convent sits on 8 acres.
The “Roar” singer’s efforts to buy the aging hilltop home were stymied when some members of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary opted to sell the convent to entrepreneur Dana Hollister.
Hollister recorded a deed on the property, but Bowick’s ruling rescinds it. She had plans to turn it into a boutique hotel, which drew concerns from some neighbors.
The birthday bunch
Country singer Loretta Lynn is 84. Actress Julie Christie is 76. Actor Robert Carlyle (“Once Upon a Time”) is 55. Singer-guitarist John Bell (Widespread Panic) is 54. Actor Anthony Michael Hall is 48. Actor Adrien Brody is 43. Singer David Miller (Il Divo) is 43. Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is 39. Singer Win Butler (Arcade Fire) is 36. Actress Abigail Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) is 20.