SAO PAULO -- Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a bishop under investigation for extortion, mismanagement of funds and covering up alleged clerical abuse against minors. 

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis led thousands of pilgrims in prayer for a Spanish missionary sister killed in Central African Republic.

VATICAN CITY -- The Holy Spirit gives Christians the courage and the strength needed to engage in a loving dialogue with God that is like the dialogue of a child with his or her father, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- When Jesus gave his disciples the "new commandment" to love others as he loved them, what was "new" was the call to love completely, without counting the cost, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- The task of journalism is to seek the truth, which requires humility and freedom of the press, Pope Francis told foreign correspondents working in Italy.

Finally the Vatican seems to recognize that the shame inflicted on the Church by the sex-abuse scandals is as much about bishops who cover up crimes as it is clerics who commit them.

WARSAW, Poland - A cardinal incarcerated for 18 years after refusing to abandon his church and a bishop thrown in an unmarked grave after starving to death in an "extermination prison" are among seven communist-era martyrs who will be beatified by Pope Francis during his upcoming visit to Romania.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of four men and four women, including Blessed Dulce Lopes Pontes, the "Mother Teresa" of Brazil.

When Pope Francis visits Romania May 31-June 1, he will helicopter to Sumuleu Ciuc, site of the country's only major Marian shrine and an important place of pilgrimage for Hungarian Catholics.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis expressed his closeness to and prayers for the victims of a shooting at a Catholic Church in Burkina Faso, which claimed the lives of six people.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has invited young economists and entrepreneurs around the world to help create a "new and courageous culture" that finds new ways to do business, promote human dignity and protect the environment.

VATICAN CITY - The priesthood is not a "cultural association or a union," but a ministry of mercy anchored on Christ's mission to bring hope to the downtrodden and comfort to those who suffer, Pope Francis told new priests.

VATICAN CITY - A diocese that cares more about being an organized workplace rather than announcing the good news can fall prey to clericalism and distance itself from Christ, Pope Francis said.

MONTREAL - Some Quebec bishops have expressed discomfort that the main Quebec organizer for the May 9 National March for Life in Ottawa signed a letter accusing Pope Francis of heresy.

VATICAN CITY - Members of Italy's Gypsy communities must look to God to hold on to the hope of a future where they are no longer discriminated against or segregated, Pope Francis said.