VATICAN CITY – The Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sent birthday greetings to Pope Francis on Saturday, Francis’ eightieth birthday.

VATICAN CITY – Make time to get ready for what Christmas really is about – the child born in Bethlehem signalling that "God is with us," Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis met with the current and former presidents of Colombia, two leading figures in the country at opposite sides of a controversial peace agreement that puts an end to a decades-long civil war.

Pastors should speak the truth, but at the same time welcome people for what they are able to give: this is the first step; the rest we leave to the Lord. That was the message of Pope Francis at the daily Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Thursday.

VATICAN CITY – Corrupt business practices that seek to profit from the sick and the dying are a cancer to hospitals entrusted with the care of the most vulnerable, especially children, Pope Francis said.

Christmas is a season of joy and hope but of the two hope seems harder to find.

OTTAWA – Pope Francis has said no to visiting Canada in 2017, but that hasn’t stopped Saskatchewan’s bishops and Indigenous leaders from planning a papal visit.

VATICAN CITY – On Saturday, Dec. 17, Pope Francis will celebrate his 80th birthday, which he will spend doing what he normally does: offering Mass and meeting with various heads of State and members of the Roman Curia.

The spirit of clericalism is an evil that is present in the Church today, Pope Francis said, and the victim of this spirit is the people, who feel discarded and abused. That was the Pope’s message in the homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to do everything possible to end the war in his country, to protect civilians and to ensure humanitarian agencies can deliver emergency aid to the people.

VATICAN CITY – The day after an explosion at the Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo killed 25 people, mostly women and children, Pope Francis called the head of the Church to offer prayer, and to say they are united the blood of their martyrs.

VATICAN CITY – During the Angelus for the third Sunday of Advent, also called Gaudete Sunday, Pope Francis made a special appeal for prayers for the people of Aleppo and Syria, and for all those affected by the recent terrorist attacks which have taken place in places such as Turkey and Egypt.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Friday morning, focusing his remarks following the readings of the day on the need for priests to serve as authentic mediators of God’s love, rather than as intermediaries – “go-betweens” or “middle-men” – concerned only with advancing their own interests.

VATICAN CITY – Priests are called to be mediators between God and God's people, offering their time and their very lives in service; they are not God's "intermediaries" or functionaries, who go to work to get paid or, worse, enter the priesthood in search of status, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – A Vatican decision to reaffirm its opposition to gay priests has angered activists who thought Pope Francis was changing Rome’s attitudes toward homosexuality.