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FAITH/STORIES

Pope Francis celebrates the Mass of Lord's Supper April 9, 2020, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis thanks God for world's priests

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VATICAN CITY -- Unable to invite Rome's priests to mark Holy Thursday in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis thanked all priests for their service and called those who died ministering to the sick and health care workers part of the community of "saints next door."

Pope Francis accepts offertory gifts from indigenous people as he celebrates the concluding Mass of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican in this Oct. 27, 2019, file photo.

Pope Francis sets up commission to study women deacons

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VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis has established a new "Study Commission on the Female Diaconate" as a follow-up to a previous group that studied the history of women deacons in the New Testament and the early Christian communities.

Pope Francis leads a prayer service in an empty St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 27, 2020. "What we are living now is a place of 'metanoia' (conversion), and we have the chance to begin," Pope Francis said in an interview about the COVID-19 pandemic, published April 8.

Pandemic is prime time for conversion, Pope Francis says in interview

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VATICAN CITY -- The COVID-19 quarantines, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders are the perfect opportunity for conversion: for individuals, for the church and for governments, Pope Francis said in an interview.

April 6, 2020
Pope Francis holds palm fronds celebrates Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican April 5, 2020. The Mass was celebrated without the presence of the public as Italy battles the coronavirus.

Pope Francis on Palm Sunday: Life is meant to serve others

VATICAN CITY -- With a small procession down the vast and empty central nave of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis began the first of a series of Holy Week liturgies celebrated without the presence of the faithful from the general public.

A man wears a protective mask during Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City March 1, 2020. With Holy Week celebrations closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis postponed the traditional Good Friday collection for the Holy Land to September, the Vatican announced April 2.

Pope Francis moves Good Friday collection for Holy Land to September

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VATICAN CITY -- With Holy Week celebrations closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis postponed the traditional Good Friday collection for the Holy Land to September.

A chalice is seen at a Catholic church in Bangkok Nov. 12, 2019, ahead of Pope Francis' visit. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has approved a special "Mass in the Time of Pandemic" during the COVID-19 crisis.

Vatican approves special 'Mass in the Time of Pandemic'

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VATICAN CITY -- The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has approved a special "Mass in the Time of Pandemic" to plead for God's mercy and gift of strength in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

April 1, 2020
Pope Francis speaks during his general audience as it is livestreamed from the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican April 1, 2020.

Pope Francis: Flush the lies from one's heart to see God

VATICAN CITY -- Seeing and growing closer to God require purifying one's heart from the sins and prejudices that distort reality and blind people to God's active and real presence, Pope Francis said.

People collect clean drinking water from a tanker sent by government authorities as part of measures to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus in San Jose, Costa Rica, March 14, 2020. The Vatican said defending the right to clean water is part of the Catholic Church's promotion of the common good.

Vatican publishes document on right to water access

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VATICAN CITY -- Access to clean water is an essential human right that must be defended and protected, the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said in a new document.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, papal vicar of Rome, smiles during a reception after a consistory at the Vatican in this 2018 file photo. Cardinal De Donatis was hospitalized March 30, 2020, after testing positive for the COVID-19 virus, the diocese announced.

Cardinal vicar of Rome hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19

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ROME -- Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the papal vicar for Rome, was hospitalized after testing positive for the COVID-19 virus, the Diocese of Rome announced.

March 30, 2020
Standing in the window of the library of the Apostolic Palace overlooking an empty St. Peter's Square, March 29, 2020, Pope Francis blesses the city of Rome, still under lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Pope Francis joins U.N. call for immediate global cease-fire

VATICAN CITY -- Saying conflicts can never be resolved with war, Pope Francis added his support to a U.N. appeal for a global cease-fire amid the worldwide threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pope Francis leads a prayer service in an empty St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 27, 2020. At the conclusion of the service the pope held the Eucharist as he gave an extraordinary blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world). The service was livestreamed in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis gives world extraordinary blessing amid COVID-19 crisis

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VATICAN CITY -- The worldwide coronavirus pandemic is not God's judgment on humanity, but God's call on people to judge what is most important to them and resolve to act accordingly from now on, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in the chapel of his Vatican residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, March 26, 2020. öÏÓãÊÓƵapp a dozen priests also live in the Vatican guesthouse, and news reports March 25 said one of them, an Italian monsignor working in the Vatican Secretariat of State, had tested positive for COVID-19.

Vatican confirms Pope Francis does not have COVID-19

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VATICAN CITY -- Neither Pope Francis nor any of his closest collaborators have the COVID-19 virus, said Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office.

March 25, 2020
Pope Francis speaks during his general audience as it is livestreamed from the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican March 25, 2020.

'Gospel of life' needed now more than ever, Pope Francis says

VATICAN CITY -- Defending life is not an abstract concept but a duty for all Christians and it means protecting the unborn, the poor, the sick, the unemployed and migrants, Pope Francis said.

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