The new pope, Leo XIV, is scheduled to deliver his first such prayer on Sunday from the loggia where he first appeared in public after being elected three days ago.

A day after firing coach Dan Bylsma, the Seattle Kraken have promoted longtime general manager Ron Francis to president of hockey operations, with assistant Jason Botterill taking over day-to-day responsibilities.

Pope Francis recorded a pained and labored audio message to thank people for their prayers for his recovery.

Pope Francis will make late teen Carlo Acutis the Catholic Church’s first millennial and digital saint next year.

A digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica has been created using artificial intelligence to explore one of the world’s most important monument’s.

Pope Francis has arrived in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea.

Voices across the globe are expressing concern over the growing number of arrests in Venezuela following last weekend's disputed elections.

Pope Francis has decreed that an area of northern Rome long used by Vatican Radio will now house a field of solar panels to fuel Vatican City.

The Vatican has crossed a key milestone in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year.

Authorities say massive floods in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state have killed at least 75 people over the last seven days and another 103 are reported missing.

Pope Francis has delivered a 10-minute homily during the Vatican’s somber Easter Vigil service, a day after he made the last-minute decision to skip his participation in the Good Friday procession as a health precaution.

Pope Francis has washed and kissed the feet of 12 women inmates at a Rome prison.

Palm Sunday will be celebrated by Christians worldwide this Sunday.

The Vatican has unveiled a groundbreaking project for the upcoming Venice Biennale of Art: It is mounting a multimedia installation inside Venice’s Giudecca women’s prison.

Pope Francis has said in an interview that Ukraine, facing possible defeat, should have the courage to negotiate an end to the war with Russia and not be ashamed to sit at the same table to carry out peace talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel cannot achieve “genuine security” without a pathway to a Palestinian state, insisting such a move could help unify the Middle East and isolate Israel’s top rival: Iran.

Iranian officials have tried to link Israel and the U.S. to an Islamic State group-claimed suicide bombing while speaking to a mass funeral for some of the 89 people killed in the attack.

New Year’s Day arrived to cheers from thousands in New York’s Times Square where a sparkling crystal ball descended to start 2024 with hope for some, even as the world’s ongoing conflicts subdued celebrations and raised security concerns across the globe.

Leaders of developing nations launched into the second-day of a U.N. climate summit to press rich industrialized countries to share their knowhow to fight global warming and ease the financial burdens they face.

The Vatican says Pope Francis went to the hospital for tests after he came down with the flu.

For scores of families still hoping to reunite with loved ones, it was not yet time to give up, even as Hawaii authorities predict that more remains would be found in the ashes left behind by a wildfire that gutted the once-bustling town of Lahaina.

Pope Francis has urged governments to do more to fight climate change and protect “our common home” as improving weather conditions help firefighters contain wildfires in Greece, Italy and other countries in southern Europe.

A U.S.-based group that tracks how the Catholic hierarchy deals with allegations of sexual abuse by clergy says Pope Francis made a “troubling” choice in appointing an Argentine archbishop to a powerful Vatican office.

A Galveston woman balking a notice from the city to mow her lawn or risk a hefty fine. Sasha Francis got a notice from the City of Galveston earlier this month that the tickseeds, or coreopsis, in her yard are taller than the city allows without a permit.

The retired bishop of Albany, New York, is asking Pope Francis to be removed from the priesthood.

Western leaders are pledging unwavering support for Ukraine as the war-ravaged country marks its Independence Day.

In a pandemic that has seen sharp divides between urban and rural vaccination rates nationwide, Arizona is the only state where rural vaccine rates outpaced more populated counties according to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A cardinal has testified that Pope Francis authorized spending up to 1 million euros to free a Colombian nun kidnapped by al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali.

Pope Francis has prayed for peace in Ukraine in a ceremony that harks back to a century-old apocalyptic prophecy about peace and Russia.

The family of an 11-year-old who was shot and killed at a northeast Harris County apartment Thursday night has identified the victim as Darius Dugas, a student who attended Cobb Sixth Grade Campus. His mother spoke to KPRC 2 and has a message for her son’s killer.

The Knights of Malta, an ancient Catholic order, are warning that the Vatican's proposals for reforming the order risk its internationally recognized status as a soverign state.

Pope Francis has taken a step to reorganize the Vatican’s powerful doctrine office.

Christians around the world have marked Epiphany with a series of celebrations.

Muted New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world ushered in the fourth calendar year framed by the global Covid-19 pandemic.

A warming earth has brought milder winters, but emerging science suggests that extreme cold spells in Texas could also result from climate change messing with complex weather processes.

Bulgaria and North Macedonia have begun periods of national mourning in honor of the victims of a bus crash that killed 45 people and injured six others.

Defense lawyers are questioning the very legitimacy of the Vatican tribunal where 10 people are on trial on finance-related charges.

Pope Francis says he doesn't understand why people refuse to take COVID-19 vaccines.

Pope Francis says Catholic bishops must minister to politicians who back abortion with “compassion and tenderness,” not condemnation.

Danusia Francis spent about 11 seconds on the uneven bars during the first day of gymnastic competition at the Tokyo Games on Sunday. It was the time of her life.

The leaders of Russia and China have put aside their raw-worded disputes with U.S. President Joe Biden long enough to pledge international cooperation on cutting climate-wrecking coal and petroleum emissions.

Christianity’s most joyous feast day is being celebrated worldwide with worshippers spaced apart in pews and singing choruses of “Hallelujah” through face coverings for the second Easter Sunday in a row.

For a second year, Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday without the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter because of the coronavirus.

VATICAN CITY – Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass for a second time in the pandemic without crowds of faithful, Pope Francis said while shock dominated the first year of the COVID-19 health emergency, now people are more weary, with the economic crisis growing heavier. Traditionally, the pope leads a Palm Sunday procession through St. Peter’s Square in front of tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists clutching olive branches and braided palms before celebrating an outdoor Mass. Ad“For the second time we are living it (Holy Week) in the context of the pandemic," Francis said, with around 120 faithful, including nuns and a few families or couples, sitting far apart in the pews. Those measures include a nationwide ban on dining at restaurants or cafes and on travel between regions and towns. People are allowed only one holiday visit per day to homes of family or friends from April 3 to 5.

Pope Francis is welcomed upon his arrival at the Sayidat al-Nejat (Our Lady of Salvation) Cathedral, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 5, 2021. Pope Francis has arrived in Iraq to urge the country's dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns. They received a further blow when IS in 2014 swept through northern Iraq, including traditionally Christian towns across the Nineveh plains. Few have returned — estimates suggest there are fewer than 300,000 Christians still in Iraq and many of those remain displaced from their homes. Many Iraqi Christians cannot find work and blame discriminatory practices in the public sector, Iraq’s largest employer.

The Vatican has taken its own precautions, with the 84-year-old pope, his 20-member Vatican entourage and the 70-plus journalists on the papal plane all vaccinated. Iraq, however, only began its vaccination campaign Tuesday and most Iraqis who come to see the pope won't be inoculated. Bruni noted that Iraq has a predominantly young population and that the current daily caseload was small compared to the overall population. The trip will mark the first-ever papal meeting with a grand ayatollah, the Iranian-born Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani. In between, Francis will travel to southern Najaf to the home of al-Sistani, a figure revered in Iraq and the Shiite world.

The administration is invoking the Defense Production Act, a wartime measure that gives the federal government authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of the national defense, to equip two Merck facilities to produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. AdBiden said Johnson & Johnson will operate 24/7 to produce the vaccine. Tom Wolf said Tuesday that teachers will receive doses of the newly approved one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, under a plan his administration will release. AdHe gave few details, but said he and a bipartisan legislative task force agreed that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be set aside for teachers and then other workers considered to be essential, but who are not included in the first vaccination phase. States are receiving 2.8 million doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week.

A Christian priest holds a Vatican flag as he walks by a poster of Pope Francis during preparations for the Pope's visit in Mar Youssif Church in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. (AP/Photo/Hadi Mizban)VATICAN CITY – Infectious disease experts are expressing concern about Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to Iraq, given a sharp rise in coronavirus infections there, a fragile health care system and the unavoidable likelihood that Iraqis will crowd to see him. But from a purely epidemiological standpoint, as well as the public health message it sends, a papal trip to Iraq amid a global pandemic is not advisable, health experts say. And the Vatican has taken its own precautions, with the 84-year-old pope, his 20-member Vatican entourage and the 70-plus journalists on the papal plane all vaccinated. Head said for any trip to Iraq, there must be infection control practices in force, including mask-wearing, hand-washing, social distancing and good ventilation in indoor spaces.

Cambodia on Sunday received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine, a donation of 600,000 doses from China, the country's biggest ally. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)BEIJING — China appears to have stamped out its latest coronavirus outbreaks centered on the northeast, reporting no new cases of local infection in its latest daily report. ___TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has unveiled its second homemade coronavirus vaccine and says it has begun human trials, state TV reported Sunday. ___JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s Food and Drug Authority has announced an emergency use authorization to give the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. to people over 60. ___KABUL, Afghanistan — Some 500,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived Sunday in Afghanistan from the government in India.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)BEIJING — China says it is now treating more than 1,000 people for COVID-19 as numbers of cases continue to surge in the country’s north. ___AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has distributed more than 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. State health officials say Texas had more than 14,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals and its death toll has passed 30,000. ___COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina will now allow medical students, retired nurses and other qualified professionals to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. ___MADRID — Spain reported 35,878 confirmed coronavirus cases and 201 new deaths from the coronavirus.

Pope Francis personally authorized the raids after a trusted ally alerted Vatican prosecutors of suspicions about the investment. Questions about the lack of a separation of powers in the Vatican and independence of its judicial system have cropped up before. In one famous case, prosecutors decided to not even investigate the cardinal whose Vatican apartment was renovated using a half-million dollars in donations for the pope’s children’s hospital. When the Vatican prosecuted two journalists in 2015 for reporting on confidential Vatican documents, media watchdogs denounced the trial as an assault on press freedom. Next week lawyers for an Italian woman sought by Vatican prosecutors as part of the probe will argue against her extradition in an Italian court.

The Vatican released a statement this morning saying that due to a painful sciatica, Pope Francis would not attend the Vespers in St. Peters today and the 9gmt Mass tomorrow morning as scheduled. (Fabio Frustaci/pool via AP)VATICAN CITY – A back condition has forced Pope Francis to skip New Year’s ceremonies at St. Peter's Basilica, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday. The pope also won’t celebrate Mass in the basilica n New Year’s Day for the same reason, he said. A Vatican cardinal filling in for him read it aloud during the evening vespers service. Instead, the pope cited the oft-told Gospel parable of the good Samaritan, and gave it a pandemic twist.

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2020, file photo, confetti falls at midnight on the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration in New York. If ever a year's end seemed like cause for celebration, 2020 might be it. (Photo by Ben Hider/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – If ever a year's end seemed like cause for celebration, 2020 might be it. From New York's Times Square to Sydney Harbor, big public blowouts are being turned into TV-only shows and digital events. The occasion stirs mixed feelings for people like Cesar Soltero, who was taking photos, and taking stock, in Times Square this week.

A series of tremors have jolted central Croatia a day after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake killed at least seven people, injured dozens and left several towns and villages in ruins. (AP Photo)PETRINJA – A series of aftershocks jolted central Croatia on Wednesday, a day after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake killed at least seven people, injured dozens and left several towns and villages in ruins. “We can’t say ‘Good morning,’ It is not good,” Petrinja mayor Darinko Dumbovic told Croatian radio. Tuesday's quake, the strongest in Croatia since the introduction of the modern seismic measurement system, was felt throughout the region, including neighboring Bosnia, Serbia and Slovenia. The central Croatian region was also struck by a 5.2 earthquake on Monday.

The pope called for global action to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. “Men’s violence against women is also a pandemic – one that pre-dates the virus and will outlive it,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of the U.N. Women agency. “Last year alone, 243 million women and girls experienced sexual or physical violence from their partner. This year, reports of increased domestic violence, cyberbullying, child marriages, sexual harassment and sexual violence have flooded in," she said. France’s deal with TikTok is among multiple measures it has taken since a national reckoning over domestic violence last year prompted by an unusually high number of women killed by their husbands, boyfriends or former partners.

Britain is preparing to join large swathes of Europe in a coronavirus lockdown designed to save its health care system from being overwhelmed. All non-essential venues — which in England includes pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, golf courses, gyms, swimming pools, entertainment places and stores selling items like books, clothing and sneakers — must close Thursday until at least Dec. 2. Unlike the U.K.'s spring lockdown, schools and universities in England are remaining open this time, as are construction sites and factories. Still, that boost didn't make up for a 25% weekly loss in income this year as a result of coronavirus restrictions already in place. ___Follow AP’s coronavirus pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/virus-outbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2020 file photo, Pope Francis salutes faithful at the end of his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, file)ROME – Pope Francis urged people to follow recommendations from governments and health authorities to prevent coronavirus infections as he returned to his private library for his Wednesday general audience amid a surge of infections in Europe. Francis held his audience Wednesday in his private library with around 10 priests to translate summaries of his catechism lesson, which was livestreamed. In his opening remarks, Francis said “unfortunately” it was necessary to return to the library to prevent infections. At the end of Wednesday's audience, Francis offered prayers for the victims of recent “deplorable" attacks in Europe.

Here are things to know for Thursday, Oct. 22:1. Parents of 545 children separated at border can’t be foundCourt-appointed lawyers said Tuesday that they have been unable to find parents of 545 children who were separated at the U.S. border with Mexico early in the Trump administration. The Daily Texan reported that a message sent to band members by leader Scott Hanna said the survey results wouldn’t affect whether the band performs at future games. The band has yet to play at a football game this season, due to safety restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Watt is on the books for $17.5 million in 2021 with no dead cap (meaning the Texans could cut Watt without paying anything).

Pope Francis lights a candle for peace during an inter-religious ceremony for peace in the square outside Rome's City Hall, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020 (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)ROME – A masked Pope Francis welcomed religious leaders to a socially-distanced interfaith peace prayer Tuesday, appealing for a unified international effort to work for peace and an end to the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic is reminding us that we are blood brothers and sisters,” they said in a joint appeal issued at the end of the service. For weeks, Francis has shunned facemasks in his public and private audiences despite a surge in COVID-19 cases across Italy and even inside Vatican City. The service was organized by the Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community, which each year organizes an interfaith peace prayer in the spirit of the first one of its kind, celebrated by St. John Paul II in Assisi in 1986. In the past week 11 Swiss Guards and a resident of the hotel where Francis lives have tested positive.

Credit: Austin Price/The Texas TribuneTexas social workers are criticizing a state regulatory board’s decision this week to remove protections for LGBTQ clients and clients with disabilities who seek social work services. The Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners voted unanimously on Monday to change a section of its code of conduct that establishes when a social worker may refuse to serve someone. The code will no longer prohibit social workers from turning away clients on the basis of disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. U.S. health officials have identified more than 100 Texas counties, particularly in rural areas, with a shortage of social workers and other mental health professionals. Parks, the Houston social worker, said the policy change could impact LGBTQ clients’ access to mental health services in those areas.

A teacher sits in an empty classroom and prepares materials for children at a closed school in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. The Czech Republic, Belgium, and Netherlands have joined Spain as Europe’s current hot spots during the resurgence of COVID-19. In one area bars are considered breeding grounds of outbreaks, while across the border or city limits, schools are deemed viral cauldrons. Here's a look at key virus topics in Europe:A SCRAMBLE AS SCHOOLS CLOSE IN CZECH REPUBLIC, NORTHERN IRELANDThe Czech Republic opted to close schools Wednesday to lower an accumulated rate of 521 virus cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 14 days, the highest national level in Europe. Germany passed 5,000 new daily cases for the first time since mid-April, while Switzerland reported a new daily record in confirmed coronavirus cases, with young adults the most affected.

Officials announced seven new coronavirus cases Thursday, all of them imported, marking 39 days since China has reported a case of domestic transmission. Neighboring Slovakia had 338 cases Tuesday for a confirmed total of 7, 269 cases and 41 deaths since the start of the pandemic. ___LONDON — Scotland has recorded 486 positive coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the highest number of daily cases in a single day. She says there were two recorded deaths in the past day, bringing the total confirmed toll to 2,508. Spain recorded 241 more virus-related deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total confirmed death toll to 30,904.

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)WASHINGTON The nations streets were calmer than they have been in days since the killing of George Floyd set off mostly peaceful but sometimes violent demonstrations over police brutality and injustice against African Americans. Earlier curfews and efforts by protesters to contain the lawlessness were credited with preventing more widespread damage to businesses in New York and other cities overnight. At least 12 deaths have been reported, though the circumstances in many cases are still being sorted out. Trump has pushed the nation's governors to take a hard line against the violence, tweeting on Tuesday that lowlifes and losers were taking over New York's streets. The New York Police Department credited the curfew, which was three hours earlier than the day before, with helping officers take control of the streets.

ROME Gone are the days of the half-million euro Christmas Nativity scene in St. Peters Square. The Vatican is centralizing its contracting and procurement procedures in a bid to cut waste, root out corruption and bring the Holy Sees finances into the 21st century. It also imposes norms to avoid conflicts of interest both among Vatican officials awarding contracts and in the companies bidding for them. It calls for transparency in the procedures and lays out how contested bids and contracts can be adjudicated in the Vatican criminal tribunal. But spending and contracting has long been disorganized, with each Vatican congregation going its own way to find contractors without any organized competitive bidding procedures that would be expected for a public administration.