As security forces in Myanmar have increased their crackdown on civilians, with disappearances, detentions and the killing of peaceful protesters, Pope Francis appealed for an end to violence and the start of dialogue.

While homosexual men and women must be respected, any form of blessing a same-sex union is “illicit,” said the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Vatican is putting an end to the practice of priests going into St. Peter’s Basilica early every morning to celebrate their own Mass at a side altar with just an altar server.

Plenty of non-Christians believe that Jesus was a real person and that what he taught can make the world a better place, but what makes a person a Christian is believing that Jesus is God, said the preacher of the papal household.

Offering general absolution to the faithful without having them personally confess their sins first may still be done in places seeing serious or increasing levels of coronavirus infections, a Vatican official said.

Pope Francis has named Sister Nuria Calduch-Benages, an Old Testament scholar and professor at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, to be secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.

The Catholic Church’s commitment to dialogue with other churches and with other religions flows from the Gospel, but Pope Francis said he knows some Catholics disagree.

Pope Francis told Iraqi Christians that when they suffer discrimination, persecution or war, the Eight Beatitudes are addressed to them.

Traveling to the birthplace of Abraham, Pope Francis urged believers to prove their faith in the one God and father of all by accepting one another as brothers and sisters.

In a low-key meeting followed closely in Iraq and beyond, Pope Francis and Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential leader of Shiite Muslims in Iraq, spent 45 minutes speaking privately.