Both Pope Francis and retired Pope Benedict XVI have received the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 after the Vatican started vaccinating its employees and residents Jan. 13.

The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments asked priests to take special anti-COVID-19 precautions this year when distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, including sprinkling ashes on the top of people’s heads rather than using them to make a cross on people’s foreheads.

Praising those who help the sick and praying for those who are sick, Pope Francis called on Christians to practice what they preach, including by guaranteeing equal access to health care for all people.

Recognizing “the gifts of each baptized person” — women and men — Pope Francis ordered a change to canon law and liturgical norms so that women could be formally installed as lectors and acolytes.

The breach of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 sent shock waves around the world.

People inside and outside the church are calling on authorities to get to the bottom of mystery funds transferred from the Vatican to Australia.

Pope Francis will not preside over the traditional end-of-the-year prayer service nor the New Year’s Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica due to “painful sciatica,” the Vatican said.

The Vatican’s coronavirus commission and the Pontifical Academy for Life issued a joint statement calling for a coordinated international effort to ensure the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.

Discalced Carmelite Father Reginald Foster — a world-renowned teacher of Latin, former longtime Vatican Latinist and colorful character who intrigued journalists — died in Milwaukee Dec. 25 at the age of 81.

As the fifth anniversary of his apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” approaches, Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church will dedicate more than a year to focusing on the family and conjugal love.