WASHINGTON – Pope Francis cannot change Church’s long-standing teaching on contraception, despite the hopes of Melinda Gates, says a theology and ethics professor.

VATICAN CITY – Cardinal Gerhard Muller has strenuously denied media reports alleging Pope Francis asked the German prelate five pointed questions before informing him that his term as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was not being renewed.

Canadians are sitting firmly on the fence when asked whether a papal apology for the sins of the residential school era would do any good in reconciling Indigenous Canadians with the immigrant majority. But Aboriginal Catholics are certain an apology from the Pope on Canadian soil would mark a new beginning after a long, sad history of colonization, racism and neglect.

VATICAN CITY – On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbour.

VATICAN CITY – World leaders attending the Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, must reflect on the repercussions their decisions may have on the entire global community and not just their own countries, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will beatify a priest and a bishop martyred in Colombia when he visits the country in September, a Vatican spokesman said.

Pope Francis on Friday celebrated Mass for the maintenance staff of Vatican City State, reminding them that our joy and our salvation lies in the fact that Jesus came so that we can all be forgiven our sins.

VATICAN CITY – In his prayer video for the month of July, Pope Francis has asked Christians to join him in praying for those who have strayed from the faith, providing hope to them through the witness of our joy and actions.

VATICAN CITY – What do the Sistine Chapel, a used car with 186,000 miles on the odometer and a statue of Our Lady of Lujan made out of metal from an abandoned factory have in common?

VATICAN CITY – The London hospital where Charlie Gard is living his last days has refused a transfer request from the Pediatric hospital Bambino Gesu in Rome for legal reasons.

VATICAN – In a brief interview given just hours after hearing that he would no longer be heading the Vatican's doctrine office, Cardinal Gerhard Muller said the decision was normal, and was not the result of conflict between him and Pope Francis.

VATICAN CITY – Promoting the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the office of prefect, Pope Francis chose not to ask German Cardinal Gerhard Muller to serve a second five-year term in the post.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis called for respecting the wishes of a terminally ill child's parents to accompany and care for their child "until the end."

ATHENS, Greece – Pope Francis has donated 50 thousand euroes ($73,000) to the island of Lesbos, Greece, which is recovering from a June earthquake.

VATICAN CITY – The international community must not remain resigned to the plight of those suffering hunger and malnutrition, which is often caused by indifference and selfishness, Pope Francis said.