VATICAN – Three members of Pope Francis' Council of Cardinals have officially ended their service as papal advisers on the reform of the Roman Curia.

VATICAN – Members of Pope Francis' international Council of Cardinals expressed "full solidarity" with him in the midst of questions about his handling of the clerical sexual abuse scandal and said the Vatican is planning a response to allegations made against him by a former nuncio.

VATICAN – Pope Francis will review a finalized draft of the apostolic constitution that would govern the Roman Curia, the Vatican spokesman said.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis and members of his international Council of Cardinals discussed the possibility of allowing local bishops rather than the Vatican decide on certain matters, including the marriage or priestly ordination of permanent deacons.

VATICAN CITY – After a handful of public challenges to Pope Francis' teaching and authority, the members of the Pope's international Council of Cardinals began their February meeting expressing their "full support" for his work.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals studied ways in which the responsibilities of Vatican offices can be simplified and harmonized.

VATICAN CITY - The question of accountability for bishops and religious superiors who fail to follow through on protecting minors from abuse was "put on the table" during the latest meeting between Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals, said the Vatican spokesman.

EDMONTON - Pope Francis is a radical reformer who is facing enemies inside and outside the Church opposed to at least some parts of his agenda, says a prominent Church historian.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' Christmas greeting to the Vatican bureaucracy this year was an extended warning against a host of spiritual ills to which he said Vatican officials are prone, including "spiritual Alzheimer's," "existential schizophrenia," publicity-seeking, the "terrorism of gossip" and even a poor sense of humor.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' international Council of Cardinals has begun creating the first draft of a new apostolic constitution that would implement a major reform of the Vatican bureaucracy.

VATICAN CITY - The Roman Curia did not have any "pontifical councils" until 1967, but since then they have become a popular structure for focusing attention on practical areas of life in the church and the world.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals continue to study the most effective and efficient way to organize the Roman Curia, a large bureaucracy with a long history of expansions and a few, short-term, attempts at consolidation.