With Italy already facing a diminishing population, low birth rates and fewer religious and civil marriages, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted those numbers for 2020, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics.

A Christian life should be filled with amazement — astonishment at the son of God suffering and dying for humanity and awe at realizing how precious and loved people are in his eyes, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis, his liturgy office and his communications team made very deliberate decisions over the past year with the goal of letting people experience how close the pope was to them in their isolation and suffering.

The life and works of the famed Italian poet Dante Alighieri remain a lasting treasure that embodies the virtue of hope so desperately needed in today’s world, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis has named Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor of sexual abuse by a notorious Chilean priest, to be a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

As he has underlined often, the pope reiterated that Mary is not a “co-redemptrix.” For decades, some Catholics have been petitioning the popes to recognize Mary as co-redemptrix to highlight the essential role she played in redemption.

The Legionaries of Christ received seven new allegations of sexual abuse against members of the congregation in 2020 and released the names of four additional members who ministered in the United States and had substantiated sexual abuse allegations made against them.

The qualities embodied in Pope Francis’ papacy that led to the coinage of the term “Francis Factor” to define them still exist, according to participants on a panel during a March 18 dialogue.

The qualities embodied in Pope Francis’ papacy that led to the coinage of the term “Francis Factor” to define them still exist, according to participants on a panel during a March 18 dialogue.

While the Catholic Church cannot bless unions that are not sacramental marriages, the church will always welcome and accompany everyone, no matter their situation in life, said the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.