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VATICAN CITY - Picking up a piece of unfinished business that consumed the energies of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, the Vatican under Pope Francis is again trying to repair a decades-old breach with a controversial group of traditionalist Catholics.

A touch of Canada, a touch of Scotland and a feminine touch has been added to the assembly of 30 theologians who advise the Pope and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — all in one appointment. Canadian Moira McQueen, a Scottish-born, University of Glasgow-trained lawyer turned moral theologian, is among a record five women appointed to the International Theological Commission.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis called for the "globalization of charity" through an international network to fight human trafficking and ensure the rights of migrants and refugees.

VATICAN CITY - Two weeks before the start of an extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family, the Vatican announced the formation of a special commission to reform the process of granting marriage annulments.

VATICAN CITY - Today's bishops must be as vigilant and courageous as sentinels keeping watch over the faith, and as forgiving and patient as Moses, leading a sinning people across harsh deserts to God, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' international Council of Cardinals has begun creating the first draft of a new apostolic constitution that would implement a major reform of the Vatican bureaucracy.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis faces no specific threat from Islamic State militants and will not be adding extra security measures on his one-day trip to Albania next week, the Vatican said Monday (Sept 15).

VATICAN CITY - When will people ever learn that war is madness and conflicts are only resolved by forgiveness, Pope Francis asked.

VATICAN CITY - Presiding over the wedding of 20 couples in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated marriage as the union of a man and woman playing complementary roles during their common journey through life.

On Sept. 12 eight years ago, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a lecture at the University of Regensburg in Bavaria in which he seemed to diagnose Islam as a religion inherently flawed by fanaticism.