Participants at the recent plenary assembly approved a petition requesting the pope to waive the “monitum” issued by the Holy Office in 1962.

Since becoming pope, Francis has given special attention to the Holy See’s diplomatic staff. 

Pope Francis has made normalizing relations with China a priority. But the Vatican and China remain at odds over the Vatican's insistence that the pope have the authority to name bishops.

“Not everything that is technically possible or feasible is therefore ethically acceptable.”

The Vatican announced it had launched a new investigation into reports about sexual abuse in a pre-seminary for young adolescents run by the Diocese of Como, Italy, but located inside the Vatican.

“To love the poor means to combat all forms of poverty, spiritual and material."