Vatican

The Vatican urged the international community to press for a “special statute” to guarantee religious freedom in the city of Jerusalem in any agreements regarding a peace deal between Israel and Palestine.

Christians should not use the Gospel to accuse others or speak ill of their brothers and sisters, but draw people to its message by exemplifying it in their lives, Pope Francis said.

Transparency means more than just releasing annual financial reports and balance sheets, Bishop Nunzio Galantino, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, told Vatican-accredited reporters.

When Pope Francis said he wanted the focus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to be “something very different” from the dicastery’s reputation as a stringent watchdog, he was not saying anything goes, Cardinal-designate Víctor Fernández, the dicastery’s new prefect, said in an interview.