VATICAN CITY - Preceded by young people and clergy waving tall palm branches, Pope Francis began his Holy Week liturgies by encouraging people to ask themselves which personality in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection they resemble most.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has apologized for the priests who have sexually abused children and promised tough sanctions against any perpetrators.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis praised the dedication of the retired patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Cardinal Emmanuel-Karim Delly, 86, who died April 8 in a hospital in San Diego, according to the California-based Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle.

VATICAN CITY - Just days before Rwanda was to begin a weeklong period of official mourning to mark the 20th anniversary of its genocide, Pope Francis urged the country's bishops to be resolute in continuing the work of healing and reconciliation.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, accepting the recommendations of his international Council of Cardinals and other advisory groups, has decided the Vatican bank will continue to exist and has approved a plan to increase its transparency and accountability.

ROME - A 75-year-old Dutch Jesuit who refused to leave wartorn Syria, instead staying in Homs to help the poor and homeless, was beaten by armed men and killed with two bullets to the head, according to an e-mail sent by the Jesuits' Middle East province to the Jesuit headquarters in Rome.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Christians and Jews must work together to fight all forms of discrimination and persecution, Pope Francis told a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has authorized a leave of absence for a German bishop at the centre of controversy over expenditures for his residence and diocesan centre.