While financial reforms in the Vatican are progressing steadily, cases involving corruption and malfeasance in the Eternal City are “a disease that we relapse into,” Pope Francis said.

In his first interview since undergoing surgery in July, Pope Francis criticized the Western attempts to impose democracy on other countries in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan.

Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to Hungary and Slovakia could prove to be among his most challenging visits at a time when distrust in government authorities and the looming threat of the delta variant are leading the headlines.

Cardinal Raymond L. Burke thanked health care workers as well as people who have been praying for him as he continues his recovery from COVID-19.

With increased violence unfolding in Afghanistan, Pope Francis appealed to all Christians to fast and intensify their prayers.

Pope Francis held a private audience with Nadia Murad, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and survivor of the Islamic State-led genocide in Iraq, Aug. 26 at the Vatican.

Heartbreaking images of mothers and fathers handing their infants and toddlers to U.S. soldiers during the evacuation of Kabul were like seeing the desperation of Jochebed, Moses’ mother, as she put him in a basket in the Nile River to save him, said an editorial in the Vatican newspaper.

Hypocrites are afraid of the truth, fearful of who they really are and incapable of truly loving, Pope Francis said during his weekly general audience.

Among the many threats to human life and dignity, the Vatican is making sure that the widening use of lethal autonomous weapons systems worldwide is not reduced to a natural progression of technology that people learn to accept and live with.

Cardinal Raymond L. Burke remained hospitalized for COVID-19 but as of Aug. 21 he was taken off a ventilator that he had been on for some days and taken out of the ICU to be returned to a regular hospital room, according to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse.