VATICAN CITY - Calling himself "a bit feminist," Pope Francis praised women religious for always heading to the "front lines" to bring the church's tenderness and motherly love to those most in need.

Pope Francis’ trip to the United States next week, including speeches to Congress and the United Nations General Assembly, will almost certainly put a spotlight on how the leader of the Catholic Church proposes to solve the global problems challenging human security in the world today.

In 1741 Pope Benedict XIV was concerned that some bishops were dissolving marriages too freely so he established stringent protocols to govern annulments. Those canon laws remained virtually unchanged through 18 papacies until now, 274 years later, when they are being rewritten by a Pope who is affixing his stamp of mercy on a process that is often long, expensive and painful.

WASHINGTON - Less than a week before Pope Francis begins his highly anticipated trip to the United States, Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy said Sept. 16 there are no credible threats against the pontiff.

One nation under God will have five days this month to consider its unity and its divisions, its aspirations and its relationship with God as Pope Francis comes to challenge, console, cajole and confound 325 million Americans.

In two wide-ranging new interviews, Pope Francis discusses matters both weighty and personal, including the perils of his popularity.

Did you know that Pope Francis is so over?

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis asked for prayers for his trip to Cuba and the United States, calling it "a mission" he had high hopes for.

A 15-year-old Philadelphia-area boy was arrested last month for allegedly pursuing an Islamic State-inspired plot against Pope Francis, two federal law enforcement officials said Sept. 15.

VATICAN CITY - More than 360 participants, including 18 married couples from around the world, were expected to attend October's Synod of Bishops on the family.

Pope Francis says the Church is a mother and must have that loving and tender maternal feeling and human warmth as otherwise all that remains is rigidity and discipline. That was the message at the heart of the Pope’s homily on Tuesday (15th September) at the Mass celebrated in the Santa Marta Residence. Tuesday’s Mass was also attended by the C-9 Cardinals who are meeting in the Vatican this week.

If we want to move forward “on the path of Christian life" we must fall, just as Jesus did when he carried the Cross.

When Pope Francis visits the United States this month, most Americans will welcome him as a plainspoken champion of the voiceless, whose openness to change has brought new energy to the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis says that we must learn to not judge others or we all risk becoming hypocrites including the Pope himself. At the same time, he said, we need to have the courage to acknowledge our own faults in order to become merciful towards others. The Pope’s comments came during his homily on Friday (11th September) at the morning Mass in the Santa Marta residence.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' reformed rules for marriage annulment cases, making the process simpler, quicker and less expensive, respond to calls that bishops from around the world have been making since before the 1980 Synod of Bishops on the family convoked by St. John Paul II.