VATICAN CITY - With a simple tap, Pope Francis joined Instagram and quickly set a record for gaining one million followers.

VATICAN CITY - Cardinal Georges Cottier, former theologian of the papal household, died March 31 at the age of 93.

VATICAN CITY - Vatican judicial authorities are investigating the former president and former treasurer of its Bambino Gesu pediatric hospital in a case involving the financing of remodelling work on the Vatican apartment where Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone lives.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has set April 8 for the release of "Amoris Laetitia" ("The Joy of Love"), Pope Francis' reflection on the family and family life.

ROME - Italy may be the spiritual home of 1.2 billion members of the Catholic Church around the world, but a new poll shows only 50 per cent of Italians consider themselves Catholic.

VATICAN CITY - Easter is a feast of hope, a celebration of God's mercy and a call to pray for and assist all who suffer, Pope Francis said before giving his solemn blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world).

Lady Day — the Catholic feast, not 1940s jazz diva Billie Holiday — doesn’t get much attention. It almost always falls too close to Easter and with the many Marian feasts crowding the Catholic calendar, it’s hard to make time for the Feast of the Annunciation. This year it has been moved from its usual March 25 to April 4 so it does not conflict with Good Friday.

ROME — Read the Vatican’s English translation of Pope Francis’ prayer last night at the conclusion of the Via Crucis service at Rome’s Colosseum.

VATICAN CITY — Entering in silence and lying prostrate on the floor in front of the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis commemorated Jesus' death on the cross.

VATICAN CITY - When he told Pope Francis that writing the meditations for the papal Way of the Cross service was tough, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia-Citta della Pieve said the Pope told him, “Remember, you aren’t doing it for me, but for the Church.”