Pope Francis, in his homily at the Consistory which took place in St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, reflected on the Lord’s “Sermon on the Plain,” found in the Gospel of St Luke.

VATICAN CITY – Initiatives undertaken during the special Year of Mercy must continue, including granting absolution to those who confess to having an abortion, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – Visiting young women rescued from forced prostitution and meeting with a mother inconsolable over the loss of one of her newborn triplets are images from the Year of Mercy that Pope Francis said remain impressed on his heart.

VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church's 17 new cardinals must dedicate their lives to being ministers of forgiveness and reconciliation in a world – and sometimes a church – often marked by hostility and division, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is defending his efforts to make the Catholic Church more open and pastoral in its ministry, telling an interviewer that his opponents have a legalistic mindset about Christianity that only sees the faith in “black or white.”

VATICAN CITY - On Friday Pope Francis stopped by a formation course for bishops on the new marriage nullity process, telling attendees that as bishops, and now as local judges in annulment cases, they must pursue the truth, but never exclude those whose marriages have failed.

ROME - Venezuelan Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo is one of the Pope's picks from the peripheries who will get a red hat this weekend, which the new cardinal-elect says is a sign of the Vatican's concern for the people amid the country’s ongoing crisis.

Pope Francis appealed for God to grant believers the courage to embrace Christian poverty, saying people cannot forgive a priest who is attached to money. His remarks came during his Mass celebrated on Friday morning in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is often referred to as the “Pope of surprises” for many reasons. One of them is the unexpected churchmen he chooses to elevate to the rank of cardinal, as he will do with 16 bishops and an elderly priest on Saturday (Nov. 19) in St. Peter’s Basilica.

VATICAN CITY – In a meeting with the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Thursday, Pope Francis criticized ongoing violence in Iraq and Syria, saying no motive can justify or allow the killing of innocent people, especially children.

The election of Donald Trump must have distressed Pope Francis. Or did it?

VATICAN CITY – Where there is no tenderness, there is cruelty and what is unfolding in Syria is a veritable "workshop of cruelty," Pope Francis told governing members of Caritas Internationalis.

The alliance between Roman Catholics and evangelical Protestants on a range of issues dear to social conservatives has been one of the biggest storylines in religion and politics in recent decades.

VATICAN CITY – The Year of Mercy brought more than 20 million pilgrims to Rome, but for Pope Francis, the idea always was that the celebration of God's mercy would be local: have people experience God's love in their parishes and send them out into the world to commit random acts of mercy.

Cuba is granting pardons to to 787 prisoners in response to Pope Francis' call for clemency during the Year of Mercy.