Pope Francis

Pope Francis showed a “marked improvement” Thursday after being given intravenous antibiotics for a bronchitis infection and could be released from the hospital in the coming days, the Vatican and his doctors reported.

In a statement, the Vatican said Pope Francis has a respiratory infection that is not COVID-19.

Pope Francis was hospitalized with a respiratory infection Wednesday after experiencing difficulty breathing in recent days and will remain in the Rome hospital for several days of treatment, the Vatican said.

Pope Francis has a bad cold and has opted to skip speeches he was set to deliver Thursday to visiting groups of priests and scientists, the Vatican said.

Pope Francis has criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are.

Pope Francis joined tens of thousands of faithful in bidding farewell to Benedict XVI at a rare requiem Mass Thursday for a dead pope presided over by a living one, ending an unprecedented decade for the Catholic Church that was triggered by the German theologian’s decision to retire.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s longtime personal secretary has written a tell-all book that is coming out this month.

Pope Francis has marked the New Year by presiding over Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and praying for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a day after his retired predecessor’s death.

Pope Francis went to visit his predecessor in the monastery on Vatican grounds where the retired pontiff has lived since retiring in February 2013.

Pope Francis has revealed that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from carrying out his duties.

Pope Francis has denounced Europe’s treatment of migrants as “disgusting, sinful and criminal.”

With a solemn ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis has expanded the ranks of churchmen now eligible to vote for his successor in case he dies or resigns.

The government’s criticisms echo those of survivors and concern Francis’ omission of any reference to the sexual abuse suffered by Indigenous children in the schools, as well as his refusal to name the Catholic Church as an institution bearing any responsibility.

It was a stunning image: Pope Francis briefly wearing a full Indigenous headdress, after he apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s “disastrous” residential school system for Indigenous children.

Pope Francis delivered an apology Monday for the “catastrophic” abuses committed against Canada’s Indigenous communities, many of whom were forced into Catholic residential schools where physical and sexual abuse was prevalent.

he pontiff says the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed their families and marginalized generations in ways still being felt today.

Pope Francis traveled to Canada on Sunday for a six-day visit to the country where he plans to apologize to Indigenous peoples.

Pope Francis has landed in Canada, beginning a fraught visit to apologize to Indigenous peoples for abuses by missionaries at residential schools.

Pope Francis plans to apologize to Indigenous groups on Canadian soil for harms inflicted at church-run residential schools. When he does, Francis will add to the Catholic Church’s growing ledger of atonement for past transgressions.

The pontiff told Reuters that the idea “never entered my mind” to announce a planned retirement at the end of the summer, though he repeated he might step down some day.