By Paige Hanley Pope Francis will highlight the important role of memory and storytelling across generations as a way to bring people together in a world marked by discord and division, the Vatican has announced this week. Pope Francis believes that memory - far from being a static, inflexible recollections of the past - has dynamic and transformative power that can influence and foster uni...

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who as Vatican secretary of state drew rising criticism for failures of the Vatican bureaucracy he oversaw, stepped down Oct. 15 with a speech praising the pontificate of retired Pope Benedict XVI and stressing its continuity with that of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis’ order restricting the use of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass in communities of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate addresses problems within the religious order and does not contradict retired Pope Benedict XVI’s permission for wider use of the old Mass throughout the church, the Vatican spokesman said.

Pope Francis was elected to succeed Pope Benedict XVI on March 13 by the conclave of cardinals.