Sylvia Poggioli

Pope Francis had a very busy year.

He traveled to Asia, South and North America and Africa. He issued a major environment document and chaired a contentious bishops' meeting on family issues. One of the world's most popular figures continued to champion the poor, reform the Vatican and spark debates ...

Every year, the Eternal City plays host to millions of migrating starlings. That creates problems — slippery, splattery problems. Falcons have been enlisted to drive them away, but have failed.

Pope Francis spent Sunday with Catholics in the Central African Republic. On Monday, the last day of his Africa trip, he will address Muslims. Religious sectarian violence has divided the nation.

Pope Francis is calling for communal and religious harmony during a visit to the Central African Republic, the final stop of his first African tour. The country has been racked by a d...

Pope Francis heads to Uganda on the second leg of his first-ever Africa visit. The country has been hit by attacks from Islamist extremists; the pontiff is urging reconciliation and forgiveness.

Pope Francis travels from Kenya to Uganda on Friday — the second stop on his trip to Africa. The pope began the day in a place world leaders more typically ignore — the impoverished slums of Nairobi.

Pope Francis is making his first-ever trip to Africa, where he is stopping in Kenya, then Uganda and the Central African Republic. All three nations are dealing with issues related to religious extremism.

Fifty years ago, 40 bishops signed a pledge to make Catholicism a church for the poor. It was soon set aside, but with Pope Francis focused on the downtrodden, that notion could be revived.

Father Moses, an Eritrean priest, fled his homeland for Italy 14 years ago. His mission preaching to refugees has new urgency with the recent flood of migrants, including many of his compatriots.

It's the 11th trip of his papacy and the most dangerous. The pope will visit Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic, a nation split apart by bloody conflict between Muslims and Christians.

On Thursday, Maamoun Abdulkarim came to address the Italian Parliament regarding the plight of Syria's 10,000 archaeological sites. Italy has been active in helping protect antiquities in conflict zones.

Abdulkarim, the head of Syria's antiquities agency, says that 99 percent of museum collections — some 300,000 museum pieces — have ...

Intrigue over Vatican finances is gaining steam with this week's publication of two books alleging multi-million dollar waste and theft. It follows the weekend arrest of a priest and ...

The two, a senior priest and a public relations specialist, had served on a now defunct financial overhaul commission. Past efforts to curb corruption at the Holy See have fueled intrigue.

Thursday marked the 50th anniversary of the issuance of the most radical document by the Second Vatican Council.

It's called Nostra Aetate, or "In Our Times," and it opened up relations between Catholicism and non-Christian religions. The landmark document repudiated anti-Semitism and the charge that Jews were collectively ...

A new European operation is stopping, seizing and searching boats in the Mediterranean suspected of migrant trafficking.

Catholic bishops wrapped up a three-week gathering at the Vatican this weekend that focused on family issues, but was overshadowed by doctrinal differences.

A letter leaked by a veteran Vatican analyst known to be critical of the Francis papacy, has thrown the synod on the family into turmoil and confusion. Allegedly signed by 13 conserva...