Oslo - Pope Francis, Russian President Vladimir Putin and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden are among a record 278 people nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

- Pope Francis has defended the Catholic Church's record on tackling the sexual abuse of children by priests, saying "no-one else has done more" to root out paedophilia.The comments, in an interview published Wednesday, were the pope's first response to ...

- Pope Francis has defended the Catholic Church's record on tackling the sexual abuse of children by priests, saying "no-one else has done more" to root out paedophilia.The comments, in an interview published Wednesday, were the pope's first response to ...

- Pope Francis on Friday said couples whose marriages fail should be "accompanied" and not "condemned", wading into a debate on divorce that is testing his promise to put the Church in touch with modern life."When love fails, and it fails many times, we ...

- Pope Francis on Monday created a new finance ministry to oversee the Holy See's economic affairs in a move aimed at increasing transparency and boosting funds for the poor following a wave of scandals at the Vatican bank.The ministry will be headed up ...

- Former pope Benedict XVI, who retired last year, made a rare public appearance on Saturday at a ceremony lead by his successor Pope Francis in St.

- Pope Francis will create his first batch of cardinals on Saturday, with nine of the 19 coming from South America, Africa and Asia.The new "princes of the Church" will be presented with scarlet-red birettas and gold rings at a grandiose ceremony in St. ...

- Thousands of engaged couples clutching heart balloons and holding "I Love You" banners crowded into St Peter's Square on Friday for a highly unusual Valentine's Day date -- an audience with Pope Francis.White silk cushions on which couples tie their we...

- The Vatican on Friday criticised a damning UN report on the Catholic Church's handling of child sex abuse cases, saying it had "grave limits" and accusing UN committee members of following "prejudiced" views.

- The UN's damning report on the Vatican's handling of child sex abuse cases has turned up the pressure on the Church to convince a sceptical international community it has adopted a zero-tolerance approach.

- Quis hoc crederet? Against all the odds, Pope Francis's Latin-language Twitter account is a roaring success -- boasting 208,000 followers on Wednesday -- more than those following papal tweets in German or Arabic.

- Pope Francis as superman, flying through the air with his white cape billowing out behind him: the image graffitied by an anonymous artist onto a wall in Rome was tweeted by the Vatican on Tuesday.

- Pope Francis as superman, flying through the air with his white cape billowing out behind him: the image graffitied by an anonymous artist onto a wall in Rome was tweeted by the Vatican on Tuesday.

- President Francois Hollande spoke of "convergence" on international issues after talks with Pope Francis Friday amid a swirling scandal over the French leader's love life and divisions in France over hot-button issues like abortion and euthanasia.

- Pope Francis described the Internet on Thursday as "a gift from God" and called on Catholics to "boldly become citizens of the digital world"."The internet... offers immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity.

- Pope Francis on Sunday spoke out about the plight of refugees and the traffickers who want to "enslave" them before visiting a parish near Rome's main railway station that cares for immigrants and homeless people.

- The Vatican revealed Saturday that some 400 priests were defrocked during two years of the pontificate of now pope emeritus Benedict XVI for child sex abuse crimes, following an explosion in reported cases.

- The Vatican was Thursday pushed for the first time to provide answers to the UN over its commitment to stamp out child sex abuse by priests.

- Looking for that special place to celebrate Valentine's Day this year? Pope Francis on Tuesday set a date for engaged heterosexual couples at a special general audience with him in the Vatican on February 14.

- Pope Francis on Monday issued his strongest condemnation yet of abortion, calling it a symptom of a "throwaway culture" that placed too little value on human life.