NEW YORK – The clumsily fashioned horror flick "The Mummy" (Universal) turns out to be anything but tightly wound.

VATICAN CITY – Upon winning the Vatican's annual soccer championship last week, the victorious team honored Christians in Egypt who have faced increasingly brutal persecution in recent years.

Abouna Beshoi Yasa Annis has been talking to angry, frightened and despairing parishioners in his Catholic Coptic parish in Assiut, Egypt, ever since gunmen killed at least 28 pilgrims on a bus, two hours’ drive north of his town in the Christian heartland of Upper Egypt.

VATICAN CITY – In a letter to Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, Pope Francis said he hoped that both their churches can continue along the path of true unity and communion.

VATICAN CITY – Just as it had been for centuries, Egypt can be a sign of hope for those who long for peace, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis visited Egypt for two days and for two days he made Egypt his platform.

ROME – The global growth of Islam and in particular the rise of Islamic extremism have forced recent popes to set out, with increasing urgency, a strategy for engaging the religion.

AMMAN, Jordan – Pope Francis' historic, 72-hour visit to Cairo has left a profound mark on Egyptians, Catholic leaders said, as they anticipate increased ties with fellow Orthodox Christians and Muslims.

CAIRO – The only kind of fanaticism that is acceptable to God is being fanatical about loving and helping others, Pope Francis said on his final day in Egypt.

CAIRO – Here is the text of the common declaration on baptism between Pope Francis and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, signed April 28.

CAIRO – Calling his visit to Egypt a journey of "unity and fraternity," Pope Francis launched a powerful call to the nation's religious leaders to expose violence masquerading as holy and condemn religiously inspired hatred as an idolatrous caricature of God.

Whether opening a free laundromat for the homeless in Rome or shunning the palatial papal apartments in the Vatican, Pope Francis knows the power of symbolic messages.

Just 19 days after two Palm Sunday terrorist bombings killed more than 45 Christian worshippers and injured a hundred more in Egypt, Pope Francis will personally take a message of peace and solidarity to that volatile nation.

TORONTO – A 13-year-old girl with long, flowing black hair and dark eyes stands poised at the head of a massive church hall, flanked by a bishop and several priests. More than a hundred community members sit before her.