Do recent reforms signify a genuine commitment to inclusivity or are they merely symbolic gestures aimed at appeasing critics, ask Dr Bronagh McShane in an article first published in the Irish Times.

Vatican City — Pope Francis remained in critical but stable ... many world languages could be heard spoken — was "a big sign of comfort" for the Catholic Church. A couple of Catholic tourists from Chicago, who arrived holding umbrellas well before ...

With Pope Francis entering his fourth week in hospital, those working in the Apostolic Palace are grappling with the continuing uncertainty over the pope’s health. The same is true for everyone in the Vatican.

for some insight into Vatican City. The Vatican houses the central government of the Catholic Church and is also an independent city-state. The pope is both the head of the Catholic Church and ...

Pope Francis increased his physical activity Wednesday, called the Catholic parish priest in Gaza and celebrated the start of Lent by receiving ashes on his forehead, the Vatican said.

Pope Francis’s battle with double pneumonia is the most serious health complication the pontiff has suffered from since taking the Chair of St. Peter in 2013.

Francis has weighed in publicly before on ethics for end-of-life medical situations, but it is unknown whether he has made known his own wishes should he face such a crossroads.

The church opposes “the ideology that usually accompanies so many sex-change decisions,” which Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández said is an ideology that claims “omnipotence” and refuses to recognize the reality of one’s body as a gift.