Pope Francis

Juliette Bannoura hopes Pope Francis can save her family's four acres (1.6 hectares) of olive groves and other Palestinian-owned lands in the scenic Cremisan Valley south of Jerusalem from the path of Israel's separation barrier.

Pope Francis took a dramatic plunge Sunday into Mideast politics while on his Holy Land pilgrimage, receiving an acceptance from the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to visit him at the Vatican next month to discuss embattled peace efforts.

Pope Francis thanked Jordan on Saturday for welcoming hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria, calling for an "urgent," peaceful solution to the conflict in the neighboring nation as he began a three-day visit to the Middle East.

Pope Francis declared his two predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II saints before some 800,000 people on Sunday, an unprecedented ceremony made even more historic by the presence in St. Peter's Square of emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis, marking Palm Sunday in a packed St. Peter's Square, ignored his prepared homily and spoke entirely off-the-cuff in a remarkable departure from practice. Later, he hopped off his popemobile to pose for "selfies" with young people in the crowd.

President Barack Obama and the Vatican gave distinctly different accounts of the president's audience with Pope Francis on Thursday, with Obama stressing their common ground on poverty and inequality but Vatican officials emphasizing concerns over Obama's health care law, which mandates contraception coverage.

I have a newfound respect for Pope Francis. Not that I didn’t have one to begin with. I admire his austerity, his non-judgmental attitude toward gays; and now for his being caught up in a very human moment. Dropping the equivalent of the “f-bomb” during Sunday’s service before the masses at the Vatican...

In an age where newly installed Pope Francis preaches austerity and has lived the life he preaches, comes the news that the future retirement home of Archbishop John Myers is undergoing a 500 thousand dollar addition. Now, if you’re like me and go to church often, you’re wondering to yourself, “…why do I give to the church merely to allow its “princes” to live in the lap of luxury...

President Barack Obama will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican as part of a European trip scheduled for March.

Time magazine selected Pope Francis as its Person of the Year on Wednesday, saying the Roman Catholic church's new leader has changed the perception of the church in an extraordinary way in a short time.