VATICAN CITY - When Pope Francis planned the Year of Mercy and the opening of the Holy Door, he did not mean to give the starting signal for a frenzied wave of pilgrims to Rome.

VATICAN CITY - The usual fanfare that comes with the world premiere of a movie is pretty standard: the lights and cameras, the celebrities walking down the red carpet and screaming fans trying to catch a glimpse of their favourite actors.

HANCEVILLE, Ala. - Mother Angelica, who spearheaded the founding of the Eternal Word Television Network, has been placed on a feeding tube as she continues to battle lingering effects of two strokes she suffered 14 years ago.

VATICAN CITY - A Vatican trial against two Italian journalists, a Spanish monsignor and two others was postponed for one week after the court allowed one of the defendants to change lawyers.

VATICAN CITY - Two Italian journalists standing trial in a Vatican court defended their right to freedom of the press, while the Vatican prosecution said the way they acquired confidential information was illegal.

VATICAN CITY - After consultation with the governing council of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, Pope Francis named Msgr. Steven Lopes to be the first bishop of the ordinariate, which serves former Anglicans living in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

VATICAN CITY - This year's Vatican Christmas stamps feature a 15th-century manuscript illumination of the Holy Family.

VATICAN CITY - A Vatican judge has ordered five people, including a Spanish monsignor and two journalists, to stand trial in connection with the leaking and publication of documents about Vatican finances.

VATICAN CITY - The educational alliance among families, schools and states is broken, causing a serious situation that leads to selecting to educate only "supermen" chosen solely based on intelligence or wealth, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - Show kindness, understanding and mercy in today's broken and wounded world, Pope Francis said.