VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis expressed his gratitude for all those who are committed to caring for the sick and supporting those in great need.

VATICAN CITY -- Meeting new recruits to the Swiss Guard, Pope Francis thanked the young men for having chosen to serve the successor of St. Peter and he thanked all the guards for their diligence and service.

VATICAN CITY -- While millions of laypeople around the world are recognized as catechists in their parish or diocese, Pope Francis is preparing to formally institute the "ministry of catechist."

Updating the laws that govern the Vatican's civil judicial system, Pope Francis stated that cardinals and bishops accused of a crime can now be tried in a Vatican court.

VATICAN CITY -- Increasing vocations to the priesthood, improving the way laypeople and priests work together and ensuring that service, not power, motivates the request for ordination are all possible outcomes of a major symposium being planned by the Vatican in February 2022.

VATICAN CITY -- Three days after the preacher of the papal household called on Catholics to repent for the ways they are dividing the church, the Vatican secretary of state said the divisions are real and they are harmful.

VATICAN CITY -- The Easter liturgies -- with the fire, sharing of light from the paschal candle, the renewal of baptismal promises and the proclamation that Jesus has risen -- assure people that it is never too late to start again, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- As Pope Francis presided over the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion, the preacher of the papal household called on bishops and all Catholics to examine their consciences for ways they may be harming the unity of the Catholic Church.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis celebrated a private Mass on Holy Thursday with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the former prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes who was forced to resign amid an investigation into suspected financial malfeasance.

VATICAN CITY -- The Office of Papal Charities has purchased enough doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to offer inoculations in Rome to 1,200 of “the poorest and most marginalized people who, because of their situation, are the most exposed” to the coronavirus.