The Vatican has defrocked an anti-abortion U.S. priest, Frank Pavone, for what it said were “blasphemous communications on social media” as well as “persistent disobedience.”

Revelations that the Vatican let a famous priest off the hook twice for abusing his authority over women has exposed the fact that misconduct is rarely if ever punished, and secrecy still reigns supreme.

Pope Francis sympathized with the caravans of Latin Americans “seeking freedom and well-being” in the U.S. as he celebrated a major feast day dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe with a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis on Tuesday tightened control and oversight over Vatican-based foundations and associations in his latest effort to impose international standards of accounting and governance on Vatican offices and affiliated entities.

Russia has lodged a formal protest with the Vatican over Pope Francis’ latest condemnation of atrocities in Ukraine.

Pope Francis has decided to extend by a year a lengthy global consultation of ordinary Catholics about the future of the Catholic Church, amid limited participation and resistance.

Pope Francis presided over a special evening Mass to commemorate the opening of Vatican II, which brought the 2,000-year-old church into the modern era by allowing for Masses in the vernacular rather than Latin and a greater emphasis on the role of ordinary faithful in the life of the church.

Belo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 with fellow East Timorese independence icon Jose Ramos-Horta for campaigning for a fair and peaceful solution to conflict in their home country as it struggled to gain independence from Indonesia.