Faith

VATICAN CITY - Soccer-fan Pope Francis urged professional athletes to always be sportsmanlike on and off the field because so many people, especially kids, look up to them.

Pope: New attitude of 'evangelical service' must take hold at Vatican

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis told his new economic oversight council that it must be "courageous and determined" in its critical role of helping the Church not waver from its real mission of bringing the Gospel to the world and helping those most in need.

Don’t equate sexual abuse of minors with torture, Vatican tells UN

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VATICAN CITY - As Vatican representatives prepare to testify before a United Nations inquiry into torture next week, a senior official warned investigators that it would be “deceptive” to link torture with the pedophilia scandals that have swept the Catholic Church.

Pope asks cardinals to try to resolve conflict with Peruvian university

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has appointed three cardinals, including Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec, to try to resolve a long-standing dispute with a Peruvian university and see if it would be possible to restore the university's designation as "pontifical" and "Catholic."

Vatican says bureaucratic reforms won’t happen until 2015

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis and his council of eight cardinals are unlikely to complete a radical shakeup of the Holy See’s administration, or Curia, before 2015, the Vatican said Tuesday (April 29).

Benedict says predecessor's faith, courage were signs of holiness

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VATICAN CITY - Blessed John Paul II's deep spirituality and his courage to uphold the truth were clear signs of his sainthood, said his successor, retired Pope Benedict XVI.

Rome official: Retired pope to attend canonizations; spokesman cautious

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VATICAN CITY - Retired Pope Benedict XVI is expected to attend the canonization of Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II April 27, said Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, head of the Vatican-related pilgrim agency, Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi.

Vatican: Pope didn't change church teaching in call to Argentine woman

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VATICAN CITY - Reports that Pope Francis told an Argentine woman civilly married to a divorced man that she can receive Communion "cannot be confirmed as reliable," said Jesuit Father Federico, the Vatican spokesman.

Letters left at John Paul's tomb show pilgrims see him as friend

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VATICAN CITY - Every day, countless visitors to the tomb of Blessed John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica leave letters and notes addressed to him.

Holy Fathers: Is being pope a shortcut to sainthood?

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VATICAN CITY - "They call me Holy Father and that is what I must be," the future St. John XXIII wrote in his diary.

Jesus wants everyone to serve others with love, Pope Francis says

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VATICAN CITY - In the humble act of washing his disciples' feet, Jesus is showing all Christians how he wants them to serve others with love, Pope Francis said.