Vatican News

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has revised and clarified norms and procedures for holding bishops and religious superiors accountable in protecting minors as well as in protecting members of religious orders and seminarians from abuse.

VATICAN CITY - Visiting the small Catholic communities in Bulgaria and North Macedonia offered an opportunity to encourage the faithful to remember God's miracle of being able to feed a multitude with just a few loaves and fishes, Pope Francis said.

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM NORTH MACEDONIA - Pope Francis told reporters May 7 he had been kept informed about Jean Vanier's failing health and had phoned him a week before his death.

SKOPJE, North Macedonia - Pope Francis went to the tiny Balkan nation of North Macedonia to pay tribute to a tiny saint who accomplished big things: St. Teresa of Kolkata.

SOFIA, Bulgaria - Prayers for peace are important, but they must lead those praying to roll up their sleeves, reach out their hands and open their hearts, Pope Francis said at an interreligious meeting in Sofia.

SOFIA, Bulgaria - Twelve boys and girls wearing white T-shirts and dark pants sang for Pope Francis at a refugee center on the outskirts of Sofia.

SOFIA, Bulgaria - In a country that has seen many of its citizens emigrate in search of work and a better life, Pope Francis asked Bulgarians to be welcoming of and sympathetic to the migrants and refugees who arrive in their country hoping to get to Western Europe.

VATICAN CITY - A "fallacious" economic model that exploits the earth's resources while disregarding the rights and cultures of indigenous people has left the planet in a precarious condition and requires a change of heart that places the common good before financial gain, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - Migrants are not a threat to a nation's culture, traditions and values, Pope Francis said.

LANCASTER, England - A small group of Catholics has accused Pope Francis of heresy and has written to the world's bishops asking them to "take the steps necessary to deal with the grave situation of a heretical pope."