The Catholic Church must take great care to avoid rites or blessings that suggest marriage is anything other than a sacramental bond between one man and one woman, the incoming prefect of the Vatican's doctrinal office said.

The Vatican is developing a plan to return to Ukraine children illegally deported to Russia but is not jockeying to mediate the war, Pope Francis' peace envoy said upon his return from his mission to Moscow.

All wars are "utter disasters" for everyone, especially families, children, the elderly, refugees, communities and creation, Pope Francis said.

With the help of an expert canon lawyer, Pope Francis and members of his international Council of Cardinals discussed ways that the principles behind his reform of the Roman Curia also can be reflected in the structuring and functioning of diocesan chanceries.

Forty years since the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, a Vatican schoolgirl who mysteriously vanished at the age of 15, Pope Francis publicly expressed his closeness to her family.

Ugandans woke up June 17 to the shock of a school massacre in which at least 39 students and two community members were killed.

The Vatican's criminal court ordered two climate activists to pay more than $30,000 in damages after they glued themselves to an ancient sculpture in the Vatican Museums to draw attention to the effects of climate change.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, celebrated a penitential rite at the basilica's main altar June 3 after a man climbed up on it naked before being apprehended.

Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the retired archbishop of Naples, celebrated his 80th birthday June 2 and, consequently, became ineligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope.

The flag of Vatican City, yellow and white with crossed keys under the papal tiara, is incorrect in many emojis, flying outside the United Nations and often even on Vatican buildings.