Recalling Jesus' birth in a stable, Pope Francis rebuked those "ravenous" for wealth and power at the expense of the vulnerable in a Christmas Eve homily decrying war, poverty and greedy consumerism.
Pope Francis has revealed in an interview published Sunday that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from doing his duties.
The retired bishop of Albany, New York, who has admitted to covering up for predator priests and has himself been accused of sexual abuse, has asked Pope Francis to remove him from the priesthood.
Pope Francis asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to "stop this spiral of violence and death" and called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to "be open" to serious peace proposals.
Pope Francis, 85, acknowledged he can no longer travel like he used to because of his strained knee ligaments, saying his weeklong Canadian pilgrimage was "a bit of a test."
Francis issued the apology years after a Canadian-government-funded report said children had been physically and sexually abused at the mostly Catholic-run schools in the country.
Pope Francis is expected to apologize for generations of abuse and cultural suppression at Catholic residential schools across Canada. Thousands of children died from disease, fire and other causes.
Pope Francis began a visit to Canada on Sunday to apologize to Indigenous peoples for abuses at residential schools, part of the the Catholic Church's efforts to reconcile with Native communities.
Officials around the world are responding to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the deadliest such incident to take place in the U.S. in nearly a decade.
"It is time to say enough to the indiscriminate trafficking of arms," Pope Francis said on Wednesday, as he sent condolences to families in Uvalde, Texas.
"It is time to say enough to the indiscriminate trafficking of arms," Pope Francis said on Wednesday, as he sent condolences to families in Uvalde, Texas.
On what is supposed to be Christianity's most joyful day, Pope Francis made an anguished Easter Sunday plea for peace in the "senseless" war in Ukraine and in other armed conflicts in the world.
Pope Francis met with Indigenous leaders and survivors of Canada's residential schools this week. He had expressed sorrow in the past on behalf of the church, but this is the first formal apology.
