Philip Pullella

Pope Francis wore a mask for the first time at a public function on Tuesday when he and other religious leaders attended a prayer service for peace around the world.

Pope Francis has said that same-sex couples should be protected by civil union laws in the clearest language he has used on the rights of gay people, prompting praise from liberals and calls for urgent clarification from conservatives.

Pope Francis on Wednesday described the COVID-19 pandemic as a tough "lady" taskmaster who must be obeyed, but he and most close aides did not wear masks at his general audience.

Pope Francis has stripped the Vatican's Secretariat of State of control over its own funds, moving them to the supervision of its economic offices in an attempt to contain the fallout of a scandal over a luxury London property deal.

The Vatican says comments by Pope Francis on civil union laws in a documentary last month were taken out of context and did not signal a change in Church doctrine on homosexuals or support for same-sex marriage.

Pope Francis, in his first public comment after the release of an explosive report on the Vatican's mishandling of the case of ex-U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, on Wednesday again vowed to put an end to sexual abuse in the Church.

During his 27-year pontificate, Pope John Paul II canonised so many people that some dubbed the Vatican "the saint factory".

Pope Francis is offering free coronavirus tests for Rome's poor and homeless as part of the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of the Poor activities, the Vatican said on Thursday.

Pope John Paul II promoted ex-U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2000 despite rumours of his sexual misconduct, a Vatican report found, one of a series of failings by popes and officials who let him rise through the ranks regardless of repeated allegations against him.

Pope Francis says in a new book that he can relate to people in intensive care units who fear dying from coronavirus because of his own experience when part of his lung was removed 63 years ago.