Four years after the Holy See and China reached a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops, Archbishop Paul Gallagher says the results are “not terribly impressive.”

“We’re getting to a very dangerous situation worldwide,” the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states said, “and it wouldn’t take much to make things even worse” and to arrive at “a world in conflict.”

Pope Francis says he will make “a penitential pilgrimage” to Canada July 24 to embrace and contribute to healing and reconciliation with its Indigenous peoples

Continuing with determination to open up new positions of responsibility for women in the Roman Curia, Pope Francis has appointed three women as members of the Dicastery for Bishops.

Were a papal document forthcoming it could lead to a new and definitive papal teaching document on issues as polarizing as contraception, assisted procreation and palliative care.

The pope joined the Sri Lanakan Catholic bishops in an “appeal for peace” and to the country’s political leaders “not to ignore the cry of the poor and the needs of the people.”

The Irish-born American cardinal and former bishop of Dallas, Tex., is considered a big hitter in the Vatican because of the many important responsibilities that Pope Francis has entrusted to him in recent years.

In a new interview, Pope Francis more openly criticized Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and clarified his position that NATO is partially to blame for the outbreak of war.

“I truly feel great sorrow at having to postpone this visit, which means so much to me," the pope said at his general audience on June 12.

Pope Francis has postponed “with regret” his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to South Sudan on the advice of his doctors so as “not to jeopardize the result of the therapy that he is undergoing.”