Pope Francis last week issued a welcome call for Catholic theologians to transmit the truths of the faith in a way that will help those of faith live the faith in their daily lives.

If Pope Francis is going to broaden or deepen the apology he offered April 1 in Rome, then it’s going to happen at Maskwacis, 70 kilometres south of Edmonton, site of one of the largest Indian residential schools in Canada.

Pope Francis’ commitment to Indigenous people to visit Canada “where I will be able better to express to you my closeness” now has the concrete form of an official itinerary.

A delay in Pope Francis’ travel plans for South Sudan and Congo because of continuing problems with the Pope’s knee is not slowing down the planning process for his apostolic journey to Canada July 24 to 29.

For many people in Rome, Pope Francis' decision to schedule a consistory to create new cardinals in August was more surprising than the men he chose to receive the red hat.

For six days in July the most important thing happening in this country will be an old man confronting our history.

Francis will visit Quebec City, Iqaluit and Edmonton between July 24 and 29, adding the weight of his office to Canadian Catholic efforts to reconcile with Indigenous Canadians and to repair the damage done by Catholic-run residential schools.

Meeting new recruits to the Swiss Guard, Pope Francis thanked the young men for their diligent and important work serving the successor of St. Peter every single day.

Whether or not Pope Francis will visit one of the sites where ground-penetrating radar has revealed possible graves of former residential school students is still not known, as some Indigenous leaders continue to lobby for the Pope to visit these forgotten cemeteries that touched off a national conversation about residential schools last year.

Warning that the Russian Orthodox patriarch should not "turn himself into Putin's altar boy," Pope Francis also said he would like to go to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin in an attempt to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Pope Francis asked his safeguarding commission to provide an annual audit of what the church is doing to protect minors and what needs to change, as well as to urge bishops' conferences to set up special "centers" where victims can be heard and find accompaniment toward "healing and justice."

Three years after multiple bombings killed more than 260 people on Easter and lingering questions remain about those behind the attacks, Pope Francis appealed to Sri Lankan authorities to shed light on what happened.

The Red River Metis went to Rome looking for the restoration of their communities, their culture and their churches.

In an Easter message to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit would "transform our hearts and make us true peacemakers, especially for war-torn Ukraine."

The head of the Manitoba Métis Federation said his group's meeting with Pope Francis was an emotional encounter centered on reconciliation between the Indigenous community and the Catholic Church.