John Paul Ii

The Vatican admitted Tuesday that late pope John Paul II ignored advice against promoting US clergyman Theodore McCarrick to cardinal given rumours of sexual misconduct against him that were later substantiated.

When Pope John Paul II made the first visit by a pontiff to Ireland in 1979, contraception and divorce were still illegal and the Catholic Church's influence on a deeply conservative society was near-total.

Pope Francis, Head of the Roman Catholic Church, is likely to visit India next year, a senior Catholic priest said in Kochi today.

Pope Francis said on Tuesday he believes the Roman Catholic Church's ban on women becoming priests is forever and will never be changed, in some of his most definitive remarks on the issue.

A cloth with a drop of blood from former Pope John Paul II has been stolen from Cologne Cathedral, German police said on Sunday.

Mother Teresa, the Nobel laureate, who dedicated her life to helping the poorest of the poor, will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in September 2016, an Italian Catholic newspaper reported on Thursday.

Pope Francis will make his first pontifical visit to Rome's Great Synagogue next year, the Vatican and the city's Jewish community said in statements today.

Pope Francis called today for "healthy decentralisation" of power in the Roman Catholic Church, including changes in the papacy and greater decision-making authority for local bishops.

Cuba said today it would pardon 3,522 prisoners within the next three days on the occasion of the Sept. 19-22 visit by Pope Francis, repeating similar actions it took ahead of visits by Pope Benedict in 2012 and Pope John Paul II in 1998.

Pope Francis greeted Bolivians with a message of inclusion Wednesday, a central theme of his three-nation tour to his home continent, as he arrived in South America's poorest nation.

Pope Francis, in South America on a three-nation tour, will perform mass in Ecuador today, with more than a million faithful - many of whom camped out overnight - expected to attend.

Thirty years ago, Gustavo Negrete took his wooden cross and joined other indigenous Ecuadorans to greet Pope John Paul II. But he has no interest in seeing Pope Francis on Sunday.

Cuban President Raul Castro will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican today to thank the pontiff for his role in brokering the rapprochement between Havana and Washington.

A granite monument with every defeat ever suffered by the England football team over 124 years engraved on it sold for $646,000 on Tuesday.

Pope Francis will celebrate mass with millions in the Philippine capital today in what could be the world's biggest papal gathering, capping off a dramatic trip in the Catholic Church's Asian heartland.

The Vatican admitted Tuesday that late pope John Paul II ignored advice against promoting US clergyman Theodore McCarrick to cardinal given rumours of sexual misconduct against him that were later substantiated.

When Pope John Paul II made the first visit by a pontiff to Ireland in 1979, contraception and divorce were still illegal and the Catholic Church's influence on a deeply conservative society was near-total.

Pope Francis, Head of the Roman Catholic Church, is likely to visit India next year, a senior Catholic priest said in Kochi today.

Pope Francis said on Tuesday he believes the Roman Catholic Church's ban on women becoming priests is forever and will never be changed, in some of his most definitive remarks on the issue.

A cloth with a drop of blood from former Pope John Paul II has been stolen from Cologne Cathedral, German police said on Sunday.

Mother Teresa, the Nobel laureate, who dedicated her life to helping the poorest of the poor, will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in September 2016, an Italian Catholic newspaper reported on Thursday.

Pope Francis will make his first pontifical visit to Rome's Great Synagogue next year, the Vatican and the city's Jewish community said in statements today.

Pope Francis called today for "healthy decentralisation" of power in the Roman Catholic Church, including changes in the papacy and greater decision-making authority for local bishops.

Cuba said today it would pardon 3,522 prisoners within the next three days on the occasion of the Sept. 19-22 visit by Pope Francis, repeating similar actions it took ahead of visits by Pope Benedict in 2012 and Pope John Paul II in 1998.

Pope Francis greeted Bolivians with a message of inclusion Wednesday, a central theme of his three-nation tour to his home continent, as he arrived in South America's poorest nation.

Pope Francis, in South America on a three-nation tour, will perform mass in Ecuador today, with more than a million faithful - many of whom camped out overnight - expected to attend.

Thirty years ago, Gustavo Negrete took his wooden cross and joined other indigenous Ecuadorans to greet Pope John Paul II. But he has no interest in seeing Pope Francis on Sunday.

Cuban President Raul Castro will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican today to thank the pontiff for his role in brokering the rapprochement between Havana and Washington.

A granite monument with every defeat ever suffered by the England football team over 124 years engraved on it sold for $646,000 on Tuesday.

Pope Francis will celebrate mass with millions in the Philippine capital today in what could be the world's biggest papal gathering, capping off a dramatic trip in the Catholic Church's Asian heartland.