VATICAN

He had used the term in reaffirming the Vatican's ban on allowing gay men to enter seminaries and be ordained priests.

The Vatican has tightened up its guidance on recognising supernatural phenomena such as apparitions of the Virgin Mary and seemingly blood-soaked crucifixes.

It will be the first since 2000, and is expected to draw tens of millions of pilgrims to Rome.

The Vatican has declared gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy as grave violations of human dignity, prompting an outcry.

The service marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most sacred week in the church's calendar.

The blessings may be carried out providing they are not part of regular Church rituals or liturgies, nor at the same time as a civil union, according to a Vatican document approved by the pope.

From the decision to beatify an entire family, to the declaration an unbaptised baby was baptised in its "mother's blood", it's a move without precedent in the history of the Church.

There were no complications after the three-hour surgery, during which Francis was under general anaesthesia.

The driver managed to breach security in the Holy City and reach a courtyard as guards opened fire.

The pontiff renewed calls for global peace during the high point of the Christian calendar.

Bundled in a long, white coat and battling a hoarse voice, pope presided over Mass in St. Peter's Square before tens of thousands of faithful on Palm Sunday, a day after he left hospital.

Pope Francis was discharged on Saturday from the Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis, quipping to journalists before being driven away: "I'm still alive."

Pope Francis showed a "marked improvement" overnight after being given intravenous antibiotics for a bronchitis infection and could be released from the hospital in coming days, the Vatican and his doctors reported.

The Vatican said he will remain in hospital for several days of treatment.

Pope Francis on Saturday updated a 2019 church law aimed at holding Catholic hierarchs accountable for covering up cases of sex abuse.

You don't have to be an experienced traveller to recognise some of the world's most iconic landmarks. But can you identify them from above?

Police were called to St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney ahead of the funeral of Cardinal George Pell.

Despite the cardinal calling Francis' papacy a "catastrophe", the pontiff imparted a final blessing in St. Peter's Basilica for the once high-ranking Vatican prelate.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI 's body, his head resting on a pair of crimson pillows, lay in state in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican as tens of thousands queued to pay tribute to the pontiff who shocked the world by retiring a decade ago.

Hong Kong's outspoken Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen was allowed to leave the southern Chinese city to pay his respects to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in Vatican City, his secretary said today.

Former Pope Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday in a monastery in the Vatican at the age of 95, asked for forgiveness for those he has "wronged" in the spiritual testament published following his death.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died the Vatican announced.

Recalling Jesus' birth in a stable, Pope Francis rebuked those "ravenous" for wealth and power at the expense of the vulnerable, including children, in a Christmas Eve homily decrying war, poverty and greedy consumerism.

Opposition politicians in Italy are seeking a parliamentary commission of inquiry into three cold cases including that of 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi.

Pope Francis will send back to Greece the three fragments of the Parthenon Sculptures that the Vatican Museums have held for two centuries.

The Vatican has defrocked an anti-abortion US priest, Frank Pavone, for what it said were "blasphemous communications on social media" as well as "persistent disobedience" of his bishop.

Pope Francis has revealed in an interview published Sunday that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from carrying out his duties.

Russia has lodged a formal protest with the Vatican over Pope Francis' latest condemnation of atrocities in Ukraine, in which the pontiff blamed most of the cruelty on Chechens and other minorities in an apparent effort to spare ethnic Russian troops from criticism.

Pope Francis approved the crediting of what was described as the miraculous healing of a child to the intercession of John Paul I, advancing the cause for sainthood for one of his predecessors.

In a decidedly unusual break from protocol, Pope Francis took a mobile phone from an aide while standing at centre stage in a Vatican auditorium for his weekly audience with the public.

Pope Francis will follow in the footsteps of St. John Paul II and deliver his weekly Sunday blessing and greeting from the Rome hospital where he is recovering from intestinal surgery, the Vatican announced

Pope Francis has undergone planned intestinal surgery at a Rome hospital, the Vatican has announced.

Spidey took selfies with youngsters attending the audience in a Vatican courtyard.

First time the Vatican has used special provision to object to a draft piece of legislation before it's adopted.

Both New York and California have announced the ending of most coronavirus restrictions, as both US states mark 70 per cent of people having at least their first vaccination dose. The states are among the worst-hit in the USA, which has passed 600,000 virus deaths.

The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God "cannot bless sin."

Pope Francis urged Iraq's Christians to forgive the injustices against them by Muslim extremists and to rebuild as he visited the wrecked shells of churches and met ecstatic crowds in the community's historic heartland.

The Vatican has cleared Joseph Hart of multiple allegations he sexually abused minors and teenagers, rejecting lay experts' determination that a half-dozen claims were credible.

Pope Francis has revamped the Holy See's financial intelligence and anti-money-laundering unit following financial scandals, including an ongoing in-house corruption probe, Vatican officials said.

An investigation found a series of bishops, cardinals and popes downplayed or dismissed reports the ex-Cardinal slept with seminarians, and determined that Pope Francis merely continued his predecessors' naive handling of the predator until a former altar boy alleged abuse.

The Pope has been warned by Australian health authorities of potential coronavirus exposure, with Canberra's new case being revealed as the Vatican's ambassador to Australia.

Pope Francis has endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary Francesco, which premiered on Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival.

Multiple European countries are seeing new restrictions implemented as cases spike again. Germany posted another daily record of new cases as their President awaits results of a COVID-19 test.

It was the first meeting between the Pontiff and Cardinal Pell since the Australian's child abuse convictions were overturned in April.

Half a world away from his home nation, where he was this year acquitted of child sex abuse allegations, Cardinal George Pell was heckled upon his return to Rome.

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It is believed Pell has arranged a private meeting with Pope Francis, which could take place shortly after he departs Rome's international airport.

Cardinal George Pell is on his way to Rome to return to the Vatican for the first time since being cleared of child sexual abuse charges.

The Pontiff didn't wear a mask as he met the crowd, but kept a safety distance from the faithful, who were cheering and waving at him.

The 93-year-old had visited his dying brother just days ago in Germany before coming down with the illness.