Faith

ROME - After walking across the threshold of the Holy Door with an Orthodox metropolitan and an Anglican archbishop, Pope Francis invoked God's mercy upon divided Christians and apologized for times that Catholics may have hurt members of other denominations.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will visit Sweden in October to participate in an ecumenical service and the beginning of a year of activities to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of 10 men and women, including the Argentinian "gaucho priest," Blessed Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, known for his ministry to the sick and the dying.

VATICAN CITY - Two decades after her anti-death penalty work was transformed into the Oscar-winning movie Dead Man Walking, Sr. Helen Prejean’s campaign continues with the backing of Pope Francis.

VATICAN CITY - Following a request by Pope Francis, the Vatican issued a decree specifying that the Holy Thursday foot-washing ritual can include "all members of the people of God," including women -- a practice already observed by the Pope and many priests around the world.

VATICAN CITY - Jealousy and envy are ugly sins that grow like weeds in one's heart, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass.
A heart that is envious is not only tormented, but can even "lead one to kill," the Pope said Jan. 21 during the Mass in the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae.

VATICAN CITY - A homeless woman was offered a place to stay at a Vatican women's shelter after she gave birth to a baby girl near the colonnade surrounding St. Peter's Square, the Vatican spokesman said.

VATICAN CITY - A Muslim delegation formally invited Pope Francis to visit Rome's mosque, the largest mosque outside the Islamic world. It would mark the first time a Pope visited the local mosque, which was opened in 1995.

ROME - A Rome court dropped charges of corruption against an Italian monsignor, yet found him guilty of slander and gave him a two-year suspended sentence.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican is not "a den of thieves," and such insinuations are an injustice to employees who are proud to serve the pope and the church, said Archbishop Angelo Becciu, a top official in the Vatican Secretariat of State.