Vatican City - Pope Francis will be unable to celebrate New Year's masses Thursday evening and Friday morning at St Peter's Basilica because he is suffering from sciatica, the Vatican announced.

Vatican City - Pope Francis in his Christmas message on Friday called for "vaccines for all, especially the most vulnerable and most in need in all regions of the planet" for the coronavirus, which he said had exacerbated existing global crises.

Vatican City - Pope Francis will make a historic visit to Iraq in March, the Vatican said Monday, the first ever by a pontiff and which will include a trip to Mosul.

Vatican City - Pope Francis created 13 new cardinals on Saturday -- including the first African-American -- putting his personal stamp on the body that will one day choose his successor.

Vatican City - Pope Francis took aim Monday at protests against coronavirus restrictions, contrasting them with the "healthy indignation" seen in the global demonstrations against racism after the killing of George Floyd in the United States.

Vatican City - Pope Francis took aim Monday at protests against coronavirus restrictions, contrasting them with the "healthy indignation" seen in the global demonstrations against racism after the death of George Floyd.

Vatican City - Pope Francis, a strong advocate of the rights of refugees, said in a new book published Monday that migration does not pose a threat to Christianity.

Vatican City - The Vatican admitted Tuesday that late pope John Paul II ignored advice against promoting US clergyman Theodore McCarrick to cardinal given rumours of sexual misconduct against him that were later substantiated.

Vatican City - The Vatican on Tuesday denied a cover-up over a US ex-cardinal accused of sexual abuse, admitting mistakes were made but saying Theodore McCarrick's crimes had for years been nothing but rumours.

Vatican City - The Vatican said Friday that next week it will publish the results of a long-awaited investigation into ex-US cardinal Theodore McCarrick following his expulsion last year for sexual abuse.

Vatican City - The Vatican has sought to tamp down discord over Pope Francis' backing last month for same-sex civil unions, reiterating that he did not question the Catholic dogma of marriage being between a man and a woman.

Vatican City - Pope Francis will have to forego meeting Catholics at the annual Advent and Christmas masses in the Vatican owing to the resurgent coronavirus pandemic, the specialist Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported on Monday.

Vatican City - Italian financial police on Tuesday arrested a woman in Milan who was paid half a million euros ($590,000) by the Vatican into a Slovenian bank account, local media reported.

Vatican City - Pope Francis met Monday with Australian Cardinal George Pell for the first time since he was jailed -- and then acquitted -- on child sex abuse charges.

Vatican City - A British-born Italian teenager who dedicated his short life to spreading the faith online and helping the poor was beatified by the Catholic Church Saturday.

Vatican City - Pope Francis once likened sorting out the Vatican's tangled accounts to "cleaning the Sphinx of Egypt with a toothbrush".

Vatican City - One of the Vatican's most influential cardinals proclaimed his innocence on Friday after being pushed out by Pope Francis following news reports of the prelate allegedly directing church funds to family members.

Vatican City - One of the most influential Vatican cardinals, Angelo Becciu from Italy, resigned his position unexpectedly on Thursday, the Holy See announced without explanation.

Vatican City - The Vatican on Tuesday underscored its unyielding opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide, calling it an "act of homicide", as more and more countries consider legal reforms on the controversial issue.

Vatican City - The Vatican and China are preparing to renew a historic deal on the appointment of bishops that has slightly thawed icy relations -- much to the displeasure of the US.