The new pathway to canonization puts the focus on the nature of the candidate’s death — that it was a free and willing offer of one’s Christian life and a heroic acceptance, out of love, of a certain and early death.

A priest related to Princes William and Harry took a major step closer to sainthood when Pope Francis declared him venerable.

A month after reading an interview in the Vatican newspaper with Edith Bruck, an author and Holocaust survivor, Pope Francis decided to pay her a visit at her home in the center of Rome.

Pope Francis accepted the resignations of 75-year-old Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, and 77-year-old Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and vicar for Vatican City State.

Pope Francis told attendees at this year’s all-virtual Los Angeles Religious Education Congress to look for hope amid the pandemic — “a difficult time for all” — in the very theme of their gathering: “Proclaim the Promise!”

“Seeing the results and the images that come out of missions like Perseverance, I hope these will be an inspiration to the next generation of young scientists,” said Jesuit Brother Robert Macke.

Lent is a time to reconsider the path one is taking in life and to finally answer God’s invitation to return to him with one’s whole heart, Pope Francis said.

As Christians pray, fast and give alms during Lent, they also should consider giving a smile and offering a kind word to people feeling alone or frightened because of the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis said.

Xaviere Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart will not be the first woman undersecretary of a major Vatican office, but she will be the first woman with a right to vote at a meeting of the Synod of Bishops.

The liturgy is not a spectacle to be observed but a prayerful event where Christians encounter Christ’s presence in their lives, Pope Francis said.