Roman Catholic Pontiff

• 

  "Resignations Should Not Become A Fashion": Pope Francis

  Pope Francis has said that pontiffs resigning instead of ruling for life should not become a "fashion" in the Roman Catholic Church and happen only in truly exceptional circumstances.

• 

  Sneaky Girl Meets Pope, Tries To Steal His Hat. Video Is Viral

  When little Estella met the Pope in Rome today, she really didn't care that he was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and did something that made even the Pontiff chuckle. As Pope Francis leaned in to plant a kiss, she sneakily reached out for his cap to steal it.

• 

  Pope Francis Expected To Call For Reconciliation On Christmas Day

  Pope Francis was expected to appeal for reconciliation of fractured communities in his Christmas Day blessing today, as the world takes stock of a year of violence and suffering that saw hundreds of thousands flee their homes.

• 

  Pope Says Fundamentalism is 'Disease of All Religions'

  Pope Francis said Monday that fundamentalism is "a disease of all religions", including the Roman Catholic Church, as he returned from a three-nation tour of Africa in which he preached reconciliation and hope.

• 

  Pope Francis to Visit Rome Synagogue for First Time

  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 to Allow All Priests to Forgive Abortion During Holy Year

  Pope Francis will give all priests discretion during the Roman Catholic Church's Holy Year to formally forgive women who have had abortions -- the Argentine pontiff's latest move towards a more open and inclusive church.

• 

  Pope Demotes Outspoken American Conservative Cardinal

  Pope Francis on Saturday demoted an outspoken conservative American cardinal who has been highly critical of the pontiff's reformist leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

• Pope Says About Two Percent of Priests Are Paedophiles: Paper

  About two percent of Roman Catholic clerics are sexual abusers, an Italian newspaper on Sunday quoted Pope Francis as saying, adding that the pontiff considered the crime "a leprosy in our house".

• Pope Francis calls for global solidarity in New Year blessing

  Pope Francis on Wednesday called for greater solidarity in the world in his first New Year blessing as pontiff in front of crowds of pilgrims on St Peter's Square.

• Pope, in Assisi, calls on Church to shun vanity

  The Roman Catholic Church, from the lowliest priest to the pontiff himself, must strip itself of all "vanity, arrogance and pride" and humbly serve the poorest members of society, Pope Francis said on Friday.

• Pope Francis says gays must not be judged or marginalised

  Pope Francis, in some of the most compassionate words from any pontiff on gays, said they should not be judged or marginalised and should be integrated into society, but he reaffirmed Church teaching that homosexual acts are a sin.

• Huge crowds in Brazil welcome pope back to home continent

  Pope Francis arrived in Brazil on Monday on his first foreign trip as pontiff and was swarmed by well-wishers as he drove into Rio de Janeiro, where more than one million people are expected to gather to see the first Latin American to head the Roman Catholic Church.

• Pope Francis greets crowds at inauguration

  Pope Francis swept into St Peter's Square on Tuesday to greet throngs of pilgrims before a sumptuous ceremony in which Latin America's first pontiff will receive the formal symbols of papal power.

• Pope Francis feted in Italian ancestral village

  Jorge Mario Bergoglio has made history as the first pontiff from Latin America, but his distant cousins in a hilltop hamlet in northern Italy claim Argentina's Pope Francis as one of their own.

• Cardinals head to conclave, Church beset by woes

  Roman Catholic cardinals gather under the gaze of Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" on Tuesday to elect a new pope to tackle the daunting problems facing the 1.2-billion-member Church.