VATICAN – Like the ancient Israelites, Christians today also can fall into the temptation of creating their own idols when difficulties and uncertainties arise, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – After the bishops of Chile issued a formal apology for failing to listen to clerical abuse victims and drew up national guidelines for responding to abuse allegations, Pope Francis sent them a handwritten letter of thanks.

SANTIAGO, Chile – Chile's bishops acknowledged they had "failed to fulfill our duty by not listening, believing, attending or accompanying the victims of grave sins" after a five-day meeting to discuss the clergy sexual abuse crisis rocking the country.

JAKARTA, Indonesia – At least 91 people have been confirmed dead after a magnitude 7 earthquake struck Indonesia's Lombok Island on Aug. 5 a week after another powerful quake killed more than a dozen people.

VATICAN – Doing God's will means first of all believing in Jesus and allowing love for him to translate into love for one's neighbors, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN – The courage, prayer and creativity that should characterize every Jesuit's ministry must be especially present when ministering to young people who are unemployed and feel hopeless, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN – Idolatry is a human inclination that spares neither believers nor atheists and deprives people of life and love in exchange for slavery to unfulfilled dreams, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN  – Christ's commandment to love God and neighbor is a path trodden by those who have the desire to become saints, Pope Francis told thousands of altar servers from around the world.

VATICAN – Pope Francis asked people to generously serve those most in need and to never waste food.

VATICAN – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation from the College of Cardinals of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, and has ordered him to maintain "a life of prayer and penance" until a canonical trial examines accusations that he sexually abused minors.

It’s the timing that makes Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s cap-and-trade announcement particularly ironic.

VATICAN – With the rising death toll of migrants and refugees attempting the treacherous voyage across the Mediterranean Sea, Pope Francis urged world leaders to act to prevent further tragedy.

VATICAN – After an investigation into alleged irregularities in the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of 57-year-old Auxiliary Bishop Juan Jose Pineda Fasquelle.

VATICAN – Pope Francis added an Italian teenager to the list of people he will formally recognize as saints Oct. 14 during the monthlong meeting of the world Synod of Bishops on young people.

PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru – On a Sunday night in early July, four men – two of them indigenous – were brutally murdered in Assis, a tiny Brazilian town on the border with Peru.