Scientific theories including the "Big Bang" believed to have brought the universe into being 13.7 billion years ago and the idea that life developed through a process of evolution do not conflict with Catholic teaching, Pope Francis said on Tuesday.
A leading Vatican cardinal said on Thursday the Roman Catholic Church will never bless gay marriage, wading into a controversy over the issue in Italy and other countries.
Pope Francis married 20 couples on Sunday, some of whom had already lived together and had children, in the latest sign that the Argentine pontiff wants the Catholic church to be more open and inclusive.
A former Polish archbishop and papal diplomat who was defrocked after allegations of paying children for sexual acts has lost his diplomatic immunity and could be tried in the Dominican Republic, the Vatican said.
Pope Francis has called for 'decisive action' in the fight against sex abuse of minors by priests, telling Bishop Gerhard Mueller, the head of Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith to ensure that perpetrators will be punished. It was the pope's first public statement on clerical sex abuse, since being elected last month, replacing Pope Benedict, who was the first in 600 years to resign from the papacy.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the Catholic Church's new pope on Wednesday night. Bergoglio, who will adopt the name Francis I, became the church's 266th pontiff, who addressed the faithful from the balcony by St. Peter's Basilica. He represents the first pope from Latin America, and is seen as a conservative
Black smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Tuesday, signaling that cardinals have yet to cast their first of the papal conclave to choose a new leader for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
