VATICAN CITY - A talk given to new bishops during a Vatican-sponsored course does not represent new guidelines on the church's response to abuse against minors by religious, a Vatican spokesman said.

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO HAVANA - Making his 12th trip abroad, Pope Francis was accustomed to collecting interview requests, notes and gifts from the journalists who travel on the plane with him.

VATICAN CITY - The body of one of Italy’s favourite saints, Padre Pio, has left the Vatican, carried out in a distinctive crystal coffin after nearly a week on display inside St. Peter’s Basilica as part of the Jubilee of Mercy.

CANTERBURY, England - For the first time in 450 years, a citadel of Protestant worship in England — the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace — echoed to the sound of Roman Catholic prayers and music.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis told Rome's priests that offering God's mercy during the jubilee year will mean lots of unpaid overtime.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis marked the beginning of the Church's Lenten journey by sending off several hundred religious and diocesan priests on their own special path as "missionaries of mercy" in local parishes.

VATICAN CITY - Meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Pope Francis expressed his hopes that Iraq and other war-torn countries would have leaders strong enough to bring once-divided peoples together.

VATICAN CITY - A jubilee year that does not open people's wallets to share what they have with others is not a true jubilee, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - On the eve of sending off "missionaries of mercy" to all corners of the globe, Pope Francis told his specially appointed men that the reassuring strength of God's love -- not the "bludgeon of judgment" -- will bring the "lost sheep" back to the fold.

VATICAN CITY - Confessors have two choices: to be like Jesus who readily forgave sins or like the devil who always condemns, Pope Francis said.