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VATICAN CITY - Possibly hoping for divine intervention ahead of next month������Ƶapp Academy Awards, Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio met with fellow environmentalist Pope Francis.

Pope Francis is taking direct aim at the wealthy and powerful of the world, saying in his message for Lent that they are often “slaves to sin” who, if they ignore the poor, “will end up condemning themselves and plunging into the eternal abyss of solitude which is hell.”

VATICAN CITY - Meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Vatican, Pope Francis told him he had high hopes for peace.

VATICAN CITY - Lent is a time of conversion and a time to deepen one's faith, demonstrating and sharing it through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, Pope Francis said.

ROME - After walking across the threshold of the Holy Door with an Orthodox metropolitan and an Anglican archbishop, Pope Francis invoked God's mercy upon divided Christians and apologized for times that Catholics may have hurt members of other denominations.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has decided that six dioceses in Canada, previously considered mission territories under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, will transition to normal status.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will visit Sweden in October to participate in an ecumenical service and the beginning of a year of activities to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Pope Francis delivered the homily at the closing Vespers of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in the Basilica of St. Paul "Outside the Walls" in Rome on Monday evening. Below, please find Vatican Radio's full English translation of the Holy Father's prepared remarks.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of 10 men and women, including the Argentinian "gaucho priest," Blessed Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, known for his ministry to the sick and the dying.

VATICAN CITY - Use the power of communication to build bridges and heal wounds, not generate hatred or misunderstanding, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - Two decades after her anti-death penalty work was transformed into the Oscar-winning movie Dead Man Walking, Sr. Helen Prejean������Ƶapp campaign continues with the backing of Pope Francis.

VATICAN CITY - Following a request by Pope Francis, the Vatican issued a decree specifying that the Holy Thursday foot-washing ritual can include "all members of the people of God," including women -- a practice already observed by the Pope and many priests around the world.

VATICAN CITY - Shrines are homes of forgiveness that allow pilgrims to experience firsthand God's love and mercy, Pope Francis said.  

VATICAN CITY - Jealousy and envy are ugly sins that grow like weeds in one's heart, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass.
A heart that is envious is not only tormented, but can even "lead one to kill," the Pope said Jan. 21 during the Mass in the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae.

VATICAN CITY - A Muslim delegation formally invited Pope Francis to visit Rome's mosque, the largest mosque outside the Islamic world. It would mark the first time a Pope visited the local mosque, which was opened in 1995.