“This is an early Christmas present for the Catholic Church and for so many people who have felt that God really isn’t accompanying them,” Father James Martin says on this episode of ‘Inside the Vatican.’

Some L.G.B.T.Q. people may say this declaration doesn’t go far enough. Others will think it goes too far. Both groups, however, can agree that this is a significant change, Father James Martin writes.

In a new Vatican document, Pope Francis opened the door for ‘blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples.’

Francis condemned the killing of two women in the Holy Family parish in Gaza, and the attack on the convent of Mother Teresa’s nuns that care for disabled persons.

A Vatican tribunal has condemned Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu to five years and six months in prison.

Vietnam’s Catholic bishops and community have long wanted the pope to come, and Francis has throughout his pontificate given special attention to Asia.