Faith

VATICAN CITY - Despite worries about the impact of millions of tourists on Michelangelo’s precious frescoes, the Sistine Chapel is opening its doors for the first time to a new kind of tourist to support Pope Francis’ charities.

VATICAN CITY - Meeting Catholics from Pope Paul VI's home diocese, Brescia, Pope Francis said his predecessor's witness "nourishes within us the flame of love for Christ, love for the Church and the drive to proclaim the Gospel to the people of today with mercy, patience, courage and joy."

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis is tipped to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, according to some of the world’s leading bookmakers.

VATICAN CITY - A papal commission on child protection will be expanding its nine-member panel to include more experts and another survivor of clerical abuse.

VATICAN CITY - Christians cannot follow Jesus while turning away from people who are hungry, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - Extremist groups in the Middle East, including the "Islamic State," must be stopped with sanctioned military force and through dialogue, said a Vatican statement.

VATICAN CITY - The biggest threat facing the Vatican isn't a bomb or bullet from the outside, but the insidious work of mischief-makers within, who plant discord and resentment, Pope Francis told the Vatican's security force.

VATICAN CITY - As the family gets special focus in two upcoming synods and an international gathering in Philadelphia next year, Pope Francis is highlighting the beauty and value of the family in his message for World Communications Day.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has placed a laicized papal ambassador under house arrest as he awaits a criminal trial for sexually abusing young boys.

VATICAN CITY - Picking up a piece of unfinished business that consumed the energies of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, the Vatican under Pope Francis is again trying to repair a decades-old breach with a controversial group of traditionalist Catholics.