VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis used the unexpected appearance of a young autistic girl at his weekly general audience to make a point about prayer and suffering.

VATICAN CITY -- Popular movements can spark the change needed to ensure a future that is no longer in the hands of elites and powerful people, but includes the poor who have the inalienable right to a life of dignity, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Christians must not be hypocrites, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Mary's assumption into heaven calls people to put aside all those insignificant, mundane and petty concerns competing for their attention and instead be drawn to God and his greatness, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- In hopeless situations of pain and suffering, God never abandons his children but rather remains close to them, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Marking the anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, Pope Francis urged nations to recall the need to protect the life and dignity of the victims of war and armed conflict.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis approved new statutes for the Institute for the Works of Religion, often referred to as the Vatican bank, that include structural changes and a mandatory external audit.

VATICAN CITY (CNA) -- The ordination to the priesthood of mature, married men, sometimes called viri probati, is among the topics to be addressed at October’s Amazon synod but is “absolutely not” one of the principle themes of the meeting, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Like the apostles who brought spiritual and physical healing to those in need, Christians are called to tend to the wounds of the suffering and the downtrodden, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis’s sixth foreign trip of 2019 will take him to Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius Sept. 4-10, the Vatican announced.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis acknowledged the shame and frustration felt by priests who are discouraged by the actions of fellow clergy members who betrayed the trust of their flock through sexual abuse and abuse of conscience and power.

WASHINGTON -- Pope Francis joined Catholic Church leaders expressing sorrow after back-to-back mass shootings in the United States left at least 31 dead and dozens injured in Texas and Ohio Aug. 3 and 4.

VATICAN CITY (CNA) - The vice-president of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Rome said that changes to the school’s governing structure and academic program are a serious threat to its identity, and to the important pastoral ministry it supports.

VATICAN CITY -- An elderly religious sister who worked for many years at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the papal residence, was at her congregation's house recovering from surgery when she received an unexpected visit from Pope Francis.

VATICAN CITY -- Prostitution is a horrendous crime that reduces vulnerable women to tortured slaves who are at the mercy of their clients, Pope Francis said.