The Vatican has wrapped up its own investigation and dismissed allegations that Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz had covered up cases of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy in his archdiocese.

Jesus invites everyone to repent and to turn swords into plowshares and missiles into factories and homes, the papal preacher said.

Before washing the feet of 12 inmates, Pope Francis told them and other prisoners that God never tires of forgiving anyone who asks.

People following the Stations of the Cross at RomeöÏÓãÊÓƵapp Colosseum this year will find along the Via Dolorosa a message of hope, including with a öÏÓãÊÓƵapp and Ukrainian family both carrying a cross together at the nighttime ceremony.

Russia's war on Ukraine frighteningly raises the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons, the unleashing of radioactive material from nuclear power plants and a new push to develop or acquire nuclear weapons, including by terrorists, said members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said it appeared Ukraine could keep Pope Francis safe if he made a wartime trip to Kyiv, but the pope's safety was not the Vatican's only concern.

Barring a dramatic reversal in pandemic fortune, the vast majority of Canadian Catholics will celebrate Holy Week as they did before COVID-19 infected society two years ago.

Pope Francis has named Cardinal Peter Turkson the new chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, two groups of top-level scholars and experts who promote studies on issues of concern to the Vatican.

Once again, Pope Francis avoided speaking directly about öÏÓãÊÓƵapp President Vladimir Putin and instead focused on condemning war as a cruel and inhumane act that "goes against the human spirit."

HAMBURG, Germany -- Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx has called for a change in Catholic teaching on homosexuality, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA.