Catholic Church

Pope Francis on Sunday declined to comment on a letter by a former Vatican official that he had ignored sexual abuse claims against US cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was forced to resign last month.

Believers light candles at the Byzantine Church of Aghia Triada in Nafplio, southern Greece, ahead of Wednesday's celebration of the Dormition (or the Assumption) of the Virgin Mary (in Greek: Koimisis tis Theotokou). The holiday commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos (Mary, translated as "God-bearer").

Pope Francis send a message of support to Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos over the deadly wildfires that killed at least 87 people in east Attica and injured more than 100.

Pope Francis is praying for the dozens who died in Greece's wildfires and offering encouragement to firefighters and rescue crews.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, sent a telegram of condolences Tuesday to Greek public and church authorities after at  least 74 were killed in the forest fires near Athens.

SCMP - A Russian national with alleged ties to a top Russian official was charged in federal court in Washington on Monday with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation, and was ordered held without bond.

Pope Francis said on Saturday that building walls, occupying territories and religious fanaticism would never bring peace to the Middle East.

A Virginia man investigated by the FBI after his family reported that he had converted to Islam and may have been radicalized has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, two years after Turkey blocked his entry.

Pope Francis, who has put the plight of migrants in Europe at the heart of his concerns, said on June 21 it was time "to invest wisely to give them work and education" in their countries of origin, in particular in Africa.

Pope Francis is ready for dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch of Moscow and all the eastern cyrilllic. This statement was made by the Pontiff during a meeting with Metropolitan Ilarion Volokamski and other representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church during a meeting with the head of the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Ahdname (imperial edict) of Fojnica, which was issued by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror to grant freedom to Bosnian Franciscans after his conquest of Bosnia Herzegovina, has been kept in a monastery for 555 years in Fojnica city in central Bosnia and Herzegovina.