Pope Francis

Pope Francis departed Rome on Tuesday for Thailand and Japan, majority Buddhist countries where the Jesuit pontiff is to plead for interreligious dialogue and nuclear disarmament.

Pope Francis, who years ago hoped to be a missionary in Japan, travels to the sites of the world's only atomic attacks this week seeking a ban on nuclear weapons.

Pope Francis has appointed Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma as one of the members of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

Pope Francis said Sunday it was time for "predators" to stop plundering the Earth for financial gain, holding up the "scarred face of the Amazon" as a warning.

Catholic bishops gathered at a special Vatican assembly called on Pope Francis Saturday to open the priesthood to married men in the Amazon, as well as giving women a greater role to play and making damaging the environment a sin.

Catholic nuns taking part in a three-week Vatican assembly on the Amazon have urged Pope Francis to allow them to vote on the final document Saturday.

Pope Francis's economic adviser on Tuesday denied reports the Vatican was at risk of default, saying the allegations were part of a campaign to discredit the pontiff.

The New Orleans Saints got a surprise shout-out on Sunday from Pope Francis, with fans and at least one player taking the inadvertent tag as a good omen for the NFL team.

Pope Francis' main bodyguard Domenico Giani, the Vatican's security chief, resigned Monday over a leak to the media of details of a financial wrongdoing probe.

The pastor's voice bellows through an old converted cinema in a rundown Buenos Aires barrio and hundreds of hands reach out in prayer.

Pope Francis opened a synod on Sunday to champion the Amazon's poverty-stricken and isolated indigenous communities by condemning the destructive "interests" he blamed for the fires that devastated the region.

Pope Francis will travel to Thailand in November, the Vatican said Friday, in a visit to Asia that will sweep in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were both decimated by atomic bombs in 1945.

Over the decades, popemobiles have typically been the preserve of major car manufacturers such as Mercedes, Ford and Fiat.

Pope Francis said Sunday he was late to his weekly Angelus prayer because he had been stuck in a Vatican elevator and had to be freed by firemen.

Pope Francis said Sunday he will create 13 new Catholic cardinals next month, including some from the developing world and a Vatican expert on aiding migrants and refugees.

President Rodrigo Duterte has publicly attacked the Catholic Church leaders and their core beliefs. He even cursed Pope Francis when he was not even president.

Migrants are human beings who symbolise all those rejected by globalisation, Pope Francis told a special mass on Monday, saying "the weakest and most vulnerable must be helped".

Pope Francis on Sunday called for "humanitarian corridors" to help rescue migrants in response to an air strike last week that killed dozens in a Libya detention centre.

Pope Francis said Monday he wants to visit Iraq as early as next year in spite of the security conditions.

Pope Francis has named a special envoy to prioritise spirituality at the Roman Catholic shrine at Lourdes in France over "managerial and financial" aspects.

Pope Francis said Sunday politicians should "never sow hatred and fear" in an answer to a question about Matteo Salvini, Italy's strongman and leader of the far-right.

Pope Francis apologised to the Roma people on Sunday for the Roman Catholic Church's "discrimination" against them as he wrapped up a visit to Romania.

Pope Francis warned Monday against a rise of intolerance and racism as far-right nationalists and eurosceptic parties made historic gains in European elections.

Pope Francis reiterated Saturday that abortion is unacceptable, saying its use amounted to the hiring of a "paid killer."