Francis

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Worshippers attend an overnight vigil on the eve of a Mass that will be celebrated by Pope Francis at the Soamandrakizay esplanade in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. Francis is in Madagascar for the second leg of his weeklong trip to Africa.(AP Photo/Alexander Joe)

Pope in Madagascar insists: ‘Poverty is not inevitable’

By NICOLE WINFIELD and TRISHA THOMAS - Associated Press

Pope Francis waves to wellwishers as he leaves after a meeting at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the capital Maputo, Mozambique Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. Pope Francis is opening a three-nation pilgrimage to southern Africa with a strategic visit to Mozambique, just weeks after the country's ruling party and armed opposition signed a new peace deal and weeks before national elections. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Pope denounces danger of corruption in Mozambique Mass

By NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press

FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2019, file photo, Italian Deputy-Premier Matteo Salvini kisses a rosary as Premier Giuseppe Conte addresses the Senate in Rome. For months now, Salvini, a divorced father of two children by two different women, has been kissing rosaries, invoking the Madonna and quoting St. John Paul II at political rallies in a bid to rally Italian Catholics behind his nationalist message. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Italian populist mixes religious symbols with his politics

By NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Cardinal George Pell arrives at the County Court in Melbourne, Australia. Pell’s appeal against his convictions for child molestation was largely a question of who should the jury have believed, his accuser or a senior priest whose church role was likened to Pell’s bodyguard. Pell’s accuser was a 13-year-old choirboy when he alleged he was abused by then Melbourne Archbishop Pell at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in December 1996 and February 1997. The appeal court will give their verdict on Aug. 21. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)

The Latest: Vatican to wait before investigating Pell

Associated Press

Walter Denton prays as the sun rises in his backyard in Agat, Guam, Saturday, May 11, 2019. Denton is one of over 200 former altar boys, students and Boy Scouts who are now suing Guam's Catholic archdiocese over decades of sexual abuse they say they suffered at the hands of almost three dozen clergy, teachers and scoutmasters. &quot;He took everything from me. From that day forward my demeanor changed. I break down, I hurt everyday and I still hurt,&quot; said Denton. But, he adds, &quot;he didn't ruin my faith. I still believe in God.&quot; Former Archbishop of Agana, Anthony Apuron denies the allegations. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Guam’s ex-archbishop shielded culture of clergy sex abuse

By MICHAEL BIESECKER - Associated Press

In this Aug. 1, 2019 photo, Ezequiel Villalonga, one of about 20 ex-students from the Antonio Próvalo School for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children who say they were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests, including cases of rape, poses for a photo in Mendoza, Argentina. Villalonga has expressed the power he feels after years of suffering now that the priests whom he and other former students accuse of abuse are finally going to trial. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Trial for priests accused of abusing deaf Argentine students

By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA and NATACHA PISARENKO - Associated Press

FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2011 file photo, Cuba's Cardinal Jaime Ortega celebrates a Mass, in Havana. Cuba's Roman Catholic Church said Friday, July 26, 2019, the former archbishop of Havana who helped organize the first papal visit to communist Cuba has died. Ortega was 83. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano, File)

Cardinal Ortega, former archbishop of Havana, dies at 82

By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ and PETER ORSI - Associated Press

FILE - A 2015 file photo shows West Virginia Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, then-bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. In a news conference scheduled for Tuesday, July 23, 2019, West Virginia's Roman Catholic Diocese says it's set to discuss its &quot;future leadership,&quot; 10 months after the resignation of Bransfield. (Scott McCloskey/The Intelligencer via AP, File)

The Latest: Leader of West Virginia Catholics ‘full of hope’

Associated Press

From left, Malta's Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti and Mons. Juan Ignacio Arrieta talk to journalists during a press conference to present the new sex abuse law, at the Vatican's press room, Rome, Thursday, May 9, 2019. Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking law Thursday requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by their superiors to church authorities, in an important new effort to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for failing to protect their flocks. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The Latest: Pope makes reporting child sex crimes mandatory

Associated Press

Pope Francis is welcomed by North Macedonia President Gjorge Ivanov after landing at the airport of Skopje, North Macedonia, Tuesday, May 7, 2019. Francis, who is on a three-day trip to the Balkans, is visiting North Macedonia for the first-ever papal visit to the country. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

The Latest: Pope hears from married Eastern rite priest

Associated Press

Pope Francis looks at children singing for him during his visit to a refugee center on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria, Monday, May 6, 2019. Pope Francis is visiting Bulgaria, the European Union's poorest country and one that taken a hard line against migrants, a stance that conflicts with the pontiff's view that reaching out to vulnerable people is a moral imperative. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis in Bulgaria tells refugees they bear cross of humanity

By Nicole Winfield and Veselin Toshkov - Associated Press

Pope Francis delivers his message during his visit to a refugee center on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria, Monday, May 6, 2019. Pope Francis is visiting Bulgaria, the European Union's poorest country and one that taken a hard line against migrants, a stance that conflicts with the pontiff's view that reaching out to vulnerable people is a moral imperative. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

The Latest: Orthodox reps not at pope’s multi-faith event

Associated Press

In this photo taken on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, vocal pedagogue Bernadeta Balabanska conducts the open air choir rehearsal at St. Archangel Michael church in the town of Rakovsky, central Bulgaria, ahead of an upcoming visit by Pope Francis. During his first visit to the Orthodox country of Bulgaria, on May 5 and 6, Pope Francis will visit the capital, Sofia, and the town of Rakovsky, which is home of the largest Catholic community in the Balkan country. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

The Latest: Traveling pope urges ‘revolution of charity’

Associated Press

Smoke and flames fill the sky as a fire burns at the Notre Dame Cathedral during the visit by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Monday, April 15, 2019. A catastrophic fire engulfed the upper reaches of Paris' soaring Notre Dame Cathedral as it was undergoing renovations Monday, threatening one of the greatest architectural treasures of the Western world as tourists and Parisians looked on aghast from the streets below.(Philippe Wojazer/Pool via AP)

The Latest: Macron pledges to rebuild cathedral in 5 years

Associated Press

Pope Francis greets some women as he arrives to the Rural Center for Social Services at Temara, south of Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, March 31, 2019. Pope Francis is in Morocco for a two-day trip aimed at highlighting the North African nation's Christian-Muslim ties, while also showing solidarity with migrants at Europe's door and tending to a tiny Catholic flock. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The Latest: Pope warns over building walls to bar migrants

Associated Press

Pope Francis, left is greeted by Morocco's King Mohammed VI, centre upon disembarking from his plane at Rabat-Sale International Airport near the capital Rabat, Saturday, March 30, 2019. Pope Francis has arrived in Morocco for a trip aimed at highlighting the North African nation's tradition of Christian-Muslim ties, while also letting him show solidarity with migrants at Europe's door and tend to a tiny Catholic flock. (Fadel Senna/Pool Photo via AP)

The Latest: Muslim students talk to pope about tolerance

Associated Press

Pope Francis seen on a giant screen at right, celebrates Mass outside Loreto's cathedral, central Italy, Monday, March 25, 2019. Francis has traveled to a major Italian pilgrimage site dedicated to the Virgin Mary to sign a new document dedicated to today's youth. (AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi)

APNewsBreak: Founder, board of Vatican women’s magazine quit

By NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press

FILE - In this Friday, March 8, 2019 file photo, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador answers questions from journalists at his daily 7 a.m. press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City. Lopez Obrador said he sent a letter to Spain and the Vatican on March 1, asking them to apologize for the conquest of the Americas five centuries ago. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

Mexico president asks Spain, Pope to apologize for conquest

By MARIA VERZA - Associated Press

Pope Francis attends an audience with personnel and families of the Italian Court of Auditors (Corte dei Conti) in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Vatican makes overtures on eve of Italy visit by China’s Xi

By NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press

In this Feb. 27, 2019, file photo, Cardinal George Pell arrives at the County Court in Melbourne, Australia. Pell, the most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse, will be sentenced to prison Wednesday in an Australia landmark case that has polarized observers. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)

Cardinal Pell gets 6 years imprisonment for sexual assault

By ROD McGUIRK - Associated Press