VATICAN CITY – After a strong earthquake struck central Italy and with the early news reporting many deaths and serious damage, Pope Francis turned his weekly general audience Aug. 24 into a prayer service.

VATICAN CITY –Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation on the family is an example of the "ordinary magisterium" – papal teaching – to which Catholics are obliged to give "religious submission of will and intellect," said an article in the Vatican newspaper.

ROME – In the chapel of the first house Blessed Teresa of Calcutta established in Rome, Father Brian Kolodiejchuk of the Missionaries of Charity talks about her life, mixing the concrete and even mundane with the spiritual and even mystical.

VATICAN CITY – God’s mercy is infectious and must be shared with others, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis met privately at the Vatican with French President Francois Hollande, who said he felt it necessary to thank the Pope in person for his words after the slaying of a French priest and other terrorist attacks in France.

VATICAN CITY – Appointing Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia as the new chancellor for the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family and new president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Pope Francis said he wanted to make sure the two bodies help the church offer better care to people who are hurting.

VATICAN CITY – If there is one person who immersed herself in the "peripheries" Pope Francis is drawn to, it was Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

VATICAN CITY – Celebrating the feast of the Assumption just three days after visiting a group of young women rescued from the sex trade, Pope Francis prayed for all exploited women and girls.

VATICAN CITY – The Apostolic Penitentiary has nothing to do with a jail cell and everything to do with ensuring repentant sinners experience God's mercy.

VATICAN CITY – At a luncheon that was part reunion and part progress report, Pope Francis invited 21 Syrian refugees to join him at the Vatican Aug. 11.