Roman Catholic Leaders

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  Pope Francis Calls Sexual Pleasure ''A Gift From God'', Warns Of Dangers Of Porn

  The 87-year-old religious leader told his followers that ''sex was something to be cherished'', but it is ultimately being ''undermined by pornography.''

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  Roman Catholic Leaders In Texas Name Around 300 Priests Accused Of Abuse

  Roman Catholic leaders in Texas on Thursday identified around 300 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children.

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  Archbishop To Lead Task Force On Anglican Communion Rift

  Anglican spiritual leader Justin Welby is set to lead a task force that will focus on rebuilding relationships after religious leaders temporarily restricted the role of the Episcopal Church in their global fellowship as a sanction over the US church's acceptance of gay marriage.

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  Pope Francis Says as Boy He Wanted to Be Butcher

  Pope Francis, who has vowed to reform the Roman Catholic Church, making it leaner and simpler, has disclosed that as a little boy he wanted to become a butcher.

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  World Catholic Leaders Appeal for Bold Climate Change Agreement

  Roman Catholic leaders from around the world made an unprecedented joint appeal on Monday to a forthcoming UN conference on climate change to produce "a truly transformational" agreement to stem global warming.

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  Pope Francis Says Will Visit United States Next Year

  Pope Francis announced on Monday that he would visit the United States next year, his first trip there as leader of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church.

• Pope Francis Opens Synod With Call for Bishops to Stop In-Fighting

  Pope Francis opened a global Roman Catholic assembly on Sunday showing his apparent irritation with Church leaders who have waged a sometimes bitter public battle between progressives and conservatives on family issues.

• Pope Francis Appoints New Primate in Poland

  Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Wojciech Polak as the new primate, or honorary leader, of Poland's influential Roman Catholic Church.

• Pope Francis: the man who won over the world in five minutes

  Never has a leader of the Roman Catholic Church become as popular in as short a time as Pope Francis did when he humbly asked the crowd gathered in St Peter's Square on March 13 last year to pray for him.

• Be peacemakers all, Pope says in first Christmas message

  Pope Francis, celebrating his first Christmas as Roman Catholic leader, on Wednesday called for dialogue to end the conflict in South Sudan and all wars, saying everyone should strive to be personal peacemakers.

• Government to act on people's wishes: Irish Prime Minister on abortion bill

  Dismissing concerns expressed by Ireland's Roman Catholic leaders over a new abortion bill in the wake of an Indian dentist's death, Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said that it is the government's responsibility to legislate according to people's wishes.

• Pope celebrates Mass to inaugurate his reign amid hope for change

  Pope Francis inaugurated his papacy with a Mass in front of hundreds of thousands of people and foreign leaders in St. Peter's Square on Tuesday with a simplified rite that fuelled hopes for change in the scandal-plagued Roman Catholic Church.

• Simpler inauguration planned for a more modest pope

  Pope Francis celebrates his inaugural Mass on Tuesday among political and religious leaders from around the world and amid a wave of hope for a renewal of the scandal-plagued Roman Catholic Church.

• World leaders head to Rome for pope's inaugural mass

  World leaders arrived in Rome ahead of an inauguration mass for Pope Francis who receives compatriot President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina on Monday in his first meeting with a head of state.

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  All eyes on Vatican chimney as world awaits new pope

  Cardinals on Wednesday spent a second day behind Vatican walls to elect a pope, with all eyes on a chimney that will signal when there is a new leader for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.