Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This year the Lord grants us, once again, a favourable time to prepare to celebrate with renewed hearts the great mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the cornerstone of our personal and communal Christian life. We must continually return to this mystery in mind and heart, for it will continue to grow within us in the measure that we are open to its spiritual power and respond with freedom and generosity.

The decade-long process of updating the laws of Vatican City State is part of the Vatican’s support for international commitments to protect people and safeguard vulnerable groups who are “frequently the victims of new, odious forms of illegality”, Pope Francis has said.

Imagine that your mobile phone rings, and the display says the call is from a “private number” – you expect it to be a telemarketer, but instead, when you answer, you hear a man with an Argentine accent say: “This is Francis. I received your letter”.

With fake news becoming ever more sophisticated, Pope Francis said people need the wisdom, courage and patience to discern and embrace constructive stories.

The loss of the Papal States and the declaration of Rome as the capital of a united Italy 150 years ago was a “providential” event that changed the city and the church, Pope Francis has said.

On occasion, pilgrims visiting the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes wish to attest that they might have been miraculously cured. Pilgrims wishing to bear witness approach the Bureau des Constatations Médicales (Bureau of Medical Observations) in the Sanctuary, but what happens next?

The Vatican has donated thousands of protective masks to several Chinese provinces affected by the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.

Bitter or boring evangelisers will not help the Gospel or the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has said this week.

In The Two Popes (Netflix), their glossy but highly speculative account of supposedly real events, screenwriter Anthony McCarten and director Fernando Meirelles ill-advisedly try to extol Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce) by trashing retired Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins).

Jesus healed people of all sorts of physical ailments, but he always started with the essential – forgiving their sins, Pope Francis has said recently.