Pope Francis has signed decrees which would advance the sainthood causes of women martyrs of the Spanish Civil War and of the first African-American diocesan priest in the United States, Father Augustus Tolton.

Pope Francis has expressed a wish to visit Iraq in 2020. In discussing the turmoil in the Middle East, he condemned the hypocrisy of those who "talk peace" but foment war with arms sales and neglect to ameliorate the suffering of innocent people.

The Italian ministry for culture has revoked a license it granted to the Dignitatis Humanae Institute to manage a state-owned historic monument south of Rome, citing irregularities in the bidding process and a breach of contract.

"We can learn how to take care of the world. And we must use all our strength to find ways of making the world more human, giving people the possibility to live their lives so that we may share the richness and the resources given to us in a way that could never be possessed or owned by us."

Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of four men and four women, including Blessed Dulce Lopes Pontes, the "Mother Teresa" of Brazil.

The aim is to build and promote a different kind of economy: "one that brings life not death, one that is inclusive and not exclusive, humane and not dehumanizing, one that cares for the environment and does not despoil it," the pope said in the letter, released by the Vatican May 11.

Visiting the small Catholic communities in Bulgaria and North Macedonia offered an opportunity to encourage the faithful to remember God's miracle of being able to feed a multitude with just a few loaves and fishes, Pope Francis said.

Migrants are not a threat to a nation's culture, traditions and values, Pope Francis said.

The announcement came a little more than one month after the magazine's founder and former director, Lucetta Scaraffia, resigned along with her editorial staff, claiming a lack of trust and support from the new management at the newspaper.

The proposed apostolic constitution for reforming and governing the Roman Curia is expected to emphasize the church's missionary mandate with the creation of a "super-dicastery" merging two offices dedicated to evangelization.