ROME – After weeks of very public tensions with the Vatican, the head of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta accepted Pope Francis' request that he submit his resignation.

VATICAN CITY – At a time when the media seem to feed a "vicious cycle of anxiety" and a "spiral of fear," Christians should respond with honest stories that identify problems and evil, but also inspire real solutions, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – As President Donald Trump was being sworn in, Pope Francis told an interviewer it would be "reckless" to pass judgment on the new president before he had a chance to do anything.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican's hopes for a peace-filled world and its defence of the right to religious freedom have supported its consistent position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for 70 years.

VATICAN CITY – Last year, more than 13 million people around the world watched Pope Francis explain one of his specific prayer intentions each month.

VATICAN CITY — Under certain circumstances and after long prayer and a profound examination of conscience, some divorced and civilly remarried Catholics may return to the sacraments, said the bishops of Malta.

VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church is "very far" from a situation in which the Pope is in need of "fraternal correction" because he has not put the faith and church teaching in danger, said Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to do everything possible to end the war in his country, to protect civilians and to ensure humanitarian agencies can deliver emergency aid to the people.

VATICAN CITY – Priests are called to be mediators between God and God's people, offering their time and their very lives in service; they are not God's "intermediaries" or functionaries, who go to work to get paid or, worse, enter the priesthood in search of status, Pope Francis said.

ROME – In two long interviews with Jesuit publications, director Martin Scorsese described his new film Silence as a major stage in his pilgrimage of faith, a pilgrimage that included flunking out of the minor seminary, investigating other religions and recognizing that the Catholic Church was his home.