VATICAN CITY – If U.S. President Donald Trump requests a meeting with Pope Francis in May, the Vatican will try to make it work, a top Vatican official said.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican stamp and coin office has big plans for early May: the release of stamps marking retired Pope Benedict XVI's 90th birthday and important events in the life of the church spanning almost 2,000 years.

VATICAN CITY – Taken together, the 10 countries with the most Catholics account for almost 56 per cent of the world's Catholic population, the Vatican reported.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican office which governs the use of the extraordinary form of the Roman rite has given priests permission to say a special Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Fatima this year, noting the importance of the apparition's centenary.

OTTAWA – Canada and the Holy See should hold China’s “feet to the fire” on human rights and be cautious about engaging with the Chinese government, warned Canada’s former Ambassador of Religious Freedom.

VATICAN CITY – Children continue to fall victim to trafficking, while those who enslave and exploit them continue to avoid prosecution, a Vatican official said.

VATICAN CITY – Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall, met April 4 with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican has taken in three new Syrian families, some members of which were ISIS prisoners before gaining freedom and fleeing the country.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will meet with the leader of one of the world's leading Sunni Muslim institutions, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church and representatives of the Catholic Church on a two-day trip to Cairo.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican hopes that U.S. bishops and others will continue to raise their voices in defense of the obligation to fight climate change and, in time, can persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to change his position, a top Vatican official said.

VATICAN CITY – As the Vatican Secretariat for Communication works to unify Vatican media efforts, a key pastoral concern is to keep open all the channels that allow Pope Francis to speak to the world.

VATICAN CITY – A few hours after urging priests to be generously available for the sacrament of penance, Pope Francis went to confession, then offered the sacrament to seven Catholics.

VATICAN CITY – When a child-protection advocate resigned from a papal advisory board in early March, she did so because of growing frustration with persistent resistance and a "toxic" sense of superiority from some in the Roman Curia.

Vilma Cortellucci-Fiuza was battling nerves as she stepped up to speak in front of the Holy Father.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican announced Friday that Pope Francis will make a six-day trip to Colombia in September with four cities on his itinerary, almost a year after the government and FARC rebels signed a major peace agreement.