"Vaccines for all, especially for the most vulnerable and needy of all regions of the planet," Pope Francis said at the Vatican on a subdued Christmas Day.
A Vatican investigation into church leaders' failings that allowed the rise of a now-disgraced former U.S. cardinal has led some Catholics to call for "difficult reckoning" with the sainted pope.
People who claim that mask mandates deprive them of their personal freedom, Francis says, are "victims only in their own imagination." The book also addresses demonstrations against racial injustice.
Italian police arrested a woman linked to a cardinal fired by Pope Francis, the latest development in an investigation into alleged financial crimes involving the Vatican.
The Vatican has long maintained that Pope Pius XII did everything he could to save Jewish lives, but newly unearthed papers have renewed accusations of complicit silence against him.
With the country shut down for the month of April, Roman Catholic churches are bringing their Holy Week celebrations online to continue rituals and reach the faithful.
The surprise move is seen as a rebuke to Pope Francis, who is weighing whether to allow older, married men to be ordained in some South American countries, where a shortage of priests is acute.
The settlement goes to a teenager who was sexually abused and then kidnapped by a teacher at her Catholic high school. The archdiocese apologized for the "serious harm" done to the victim.
A #NunsToo movement has emerged from #MeToo, as Roman Catholic nuns start speaking out about sexual abuse by priests. Cases of rape and forced abortion have begun coming to light.