Jorge Bergoglio became the 266th Pope on March 13, 2013. His humble and direct style was immediately clear as he uttered his first words as pontiff: “buona sera.” 

Four years on, his reform of the Church and of the Curia ploughs ahead, he continues to enjoy the acclaim of cheering crowds every Wednesday at the weekly General Audience and at all public appearances, his call for mercy and his openness and pastoral outreach towards the peripheries and towards the most vulnerable stand out as constant traits of his ministry…

Pope Francis visited the Roman parish of St. Magdalene of Canossa on Sunday afternoon, meeting with young people and the sick and elderly before celebrating Mass with the parish community.

His visit began with a conversation with the children and young adolescents of the parish in the parish sports field.

The Holy Father also met with parents and newborns baptized during the course of the year and with the elderly and sick of the parish in the parish hall…

The Holy See’s representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday said freedom of the media requires ‘great responsibility’.

Msgr. Janusz S. Urbańczyk told the OSCE that it is “important to stress that the great role of the media is accompanied by great responsibility. Because, with every right – such as freedom of expression – there follows obligations.”

His address came after the presentation of a report by the OSCE representative on freedom of the media…

The Vatican has released the programme for Pope Francis’ one-day visit to Milan on Saturday, 25 March 2017.

The Holy Father will begin the day with an encounter with the Rom, Islamic, and immigrant families of the ‘White Houses’ in the Forlanini quarter of the city.

After speaking with priests and consecrated persons, he will visit the inmates of the San Vittore Prison for lunch and then celebrate Holy Mass in Monza Park…

“I too know moments of emptiness.” In an interview for German newsweekly Die Zeit, Pope Francis spoke about the “spiritual dark moments” in his own life, times when he has said, “Lord, I don’t understand this.”

Asked about how the faithful can help when people experience crises of faith, the Holy Father said, “One cannot grow without crises: in human life, the same thing happens…