Pope Francis

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Looking tired but relaxed, Pope Francis on Sunday led his first major public ceremony since health problems forced a spate of canceled appointments.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis canceled a planned visit to one of Rome's main hospitals Friday, the third time this month the 77-year-old has skipped or scaled back an event due to illness or fatigue.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican admitted Thursday that most Catholics around the world reject its teachings about sex and contraception as an intrusion into their private lives, and are ignorant of other core doctrines about marriage, divorce and homosexuality.

Pope Francis has made it known that he is against marijuana. He told members of a drug-enforcement conference meeting in Rome on Friday that even limited attempts to legalize recreational drugs ‘are not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint, but they fail to produce the desired effects.’”

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis condemned the legalization of recreational drugs as a flawed and failed experiment as he lent his voice Friday to a debate that is raging from the United States to Uruguay.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis denounced corrupt politicians, businessmen and priests for the second day in a row Tuesday, scaling up his criticisms as prosecutors crack down on a series of bribery scandals afflicting several major public projects in Italy.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis says 99 percent of Vatican officials initially opposed his idea of bringing the Israeli and Palestinian presidents together for a prayer summit, but eventually they came around.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis ousted the all-Italian board of the Vatican's financial watchdog agency Thursday and installed a more international set of experts following clashes between the board and the agency's director.

Pope Francis honored Jews killed in the Holocaust and in terrorist attacks, and kissed the hands of Holocaust survivors as he capped his three-day Mideast trip with poignant stops Monday at some of the holiest and most haunting sites for Jews.

Pope Francis announced Monday he would meet soon with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican and declared "zero tolerance" for any member of the clergy who would violate a child.