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In this file photo from 2019, Pope Francis prays during a visit to the Chapel of the Nativity, a grotto in Greccio, Italy, where tradition says the first Nativity scene was assembled by St. Francis of Assisi in 1223.

Vatican Nativity scene to honor 800th anniversary of St. Francis' creche

On the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi setting up the first Nativity scene, the creche in St. Peter's Square in 2023 will come from the Diocese of Rieti, Italy, and pay tribute to the scene set up in the diocese in 1223.

Pope Francis greets Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik during a private audience at the Vatican in this Jan. 3, 2022, file photo.

Pope Francis calls on doctrinal dicastery to formally investigate Father Rupnik

Pope Francis has lifted the statute of limitations on abuse accusations against Father Marko Rupnik to allow for a formal investigation of the case by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

St. John Paul II appears on the balcony at St. Peter’s Basilica following his election to head the Church Oct. 16, 1978.

John Paul II still looms large over Vatican

Raniero Mancinelli has been an ecclesiastical tailor for more than 40 years. He owns a shop at Borgo Pio, one of the famous Roman streets leading straight to the Vatican gate of Porta Sant’Anna.

Pope Francis joins leaders of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops for prayer before a working session in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall Oct. 17, 2023.

Pope Francis mentions planned Argentina trip, hints at Oceania tour

Pope Francis said a trip to his native Argentina remains on his schedule and that he has been encouraged to travel through Oceania.

A bishop watches a video screen as his tablet with synod documents is open during the first session of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Oct. 4, 2023.

Confidential synod documents made available on unsecured server

Some confidential documents from the assembly of the Synod of Bishops were accessible online to anyone who had the address before synod officials restored the need for a username and password, said Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication.

Panelists open the conference “New Documents from the Pontificate of Pope Pius XII” at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Oct. 9, 2023. From the left are Rome Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni; Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state; Auxiliary Bishop Étienne Vetö of Reims, France, and Suzanne Brown-Fleming from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Study, not blame or shame, needed with pope's wartime record, scholar says

The era of divisive debate about Pope Pius XII has been left behind, and now Catholics and Jews, historians and theologians must take up serious and collaborative study, said the co-organizer of a major conference looking at the early results of new research into the wartime pontificate.

Rock formations and mountains are pictured near Los Alamos, N.M., Nov. 21, 2020.

'Laudate Deum': Planet mirrors a deeply flawed view of human life and activity

Pope Francis claims the clock is ticking on the dangers of climate change -- and both a paradigm shift and practical action are critically needed to avert looming disasters in nature and human society.

Pope Francis speaks to visitors during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sept. 27, 2023.

Pope Francis responds to cardinals on blessings for homosexuals, female priests

The Catholic Church, in pursuit of "pastoral prudence," should discern if there are ways of giving blessings to homosexual persons that do not alter the church's teaching on marriage, Pope Francis said.

New cardinals line up to receive their red biretta and scroll from Pope Francis during a consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 30, 2023.

Creating cardinals from 16 nations, Pope Francis asks them to join church 'symphony'

Coming from different parts of the world and having different experiences and talents, members of the College of Cardinals are called to create a "symphony," listening to one another and to the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said.

Red birettas and scrolls lie on a table before Pope Francis distributes them to new cardinals at a consistory in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 30, 2023.

Hundreds stand in line to greet new cardinals from the 'peripheries'

One consequence of Pope Francis choosing new cardinals from the "peripheries" is that friends, family and fans of the newly elevated are just as shocked and surprised as the new cardinals are themselves to have been given the honor.

Pope Francis arrives for a meeting with the rectors of public and private universities from Latin America and the Caribbean at the Vatican Sept. 21, 2023. Responding to questions, the pope said his new document on the environment would be called "Laudate Deum" (Praise God).

Pope Francis says his new ecology document is titled 'Laudate Deum'

Pope Francis said the title of his new letter on the environment will be "Laudate Deum," (Praise God), a frequent refrain in several psalms, including Psalm 148, which tells the heavens and the angels and the sun and moon to praise the Lord.

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