Pope Francis

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Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope says autistic kids are beautiful, unique flowers to God

Associated Press

In this Oct. 30, 2019, file photo, Pope Francis poses for photographs with British Bishop Paul Mason, left, as they hold statues of Our Lady of Lujan, the original held at right, and its replica, left, at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. Pope Francis is giving his blessing to a new Vatican think tank that is seeking to prevent the Mafia and organized crime groups from exploiting the image of the Virgin Mary for their own illicit ends. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope seeks to ‘liberate’ Virgin Mary from the Mafia

By Nicole Winfield - Associated Press

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope recalls visit to Lesbos refugee camp, urges solidarity

Associated Press

Pope Francis walks next to Carlo Petrini during an audience at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. Pope Francis has formed an unusual partnership with the agnostic former communist founder of the Slow Food movement to double down on his calls to protect the environment from profit-driven development that Francis says is harming the poorest most. Francis on Saturday welcomed Carlo Petrini to the Vatican and met with participants of a committee Petrini formed to help put into practice Francis’ appeals for environmental sustainability and solidarity articulated in his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Sii” (Praised Be). (Vatican Media via AP)

Pope teams up with Slow Food founder for environment appeal

By NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press

Pope Francis has his hands sanitized by his personal assistant during his weekly general audience general audience in San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope uses mask, sanitizer as he appeals for public health

Associated Press

Pope Francis recites the Angelus noon prayer from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope: Gossiping is “plague worse than COVID”

Associated Press

FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 file photo, a moment of the closing event of an inter-religious prayer gathering, in front of the Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi, Italy. The Franciscan friars in Assisi say Pope Francis will journey there next month to sign a new encyclical, expected to stress the value of brotherly relations during and after the pandemic, in what could be his first visit outside of the Rome area since Italy went into lockdown. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

Pope set to make first trip since pandemic to saint’s town

By FRANCES D'EMILIO - Associated Press

Faithful listen to Pope Francis, white figure sitting at center right, during his general audience, the first with faithful since February when the coronavirus outbreak broke out, at the San Damaso courtyard, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Binoche, other French environmentalists get pope’s backing

By FRANCES D'EMILIO - Associated Press

People wear face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while Pope Francis waves as he arrives for his first general audience with faithful since February when the coronavirus outbreak broke out, in the San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope prays for Lebanon during 1st public audience in months

By GIADA ZAMPANO - Associated Press

In this Oct. 4, 2019, file photo, Pope Francis walks toward a newly planted oak tree during a tree-planting ceremony on the occasion of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology, at the Vatican. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how the Earth can recover “if we allow it to rest” and must spur people to adopt simpler lifestyles to help the planet, which is “groaning,” under the constant demand for economic growth, Pope Francis said on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, in his latest, urgent appeal to help a fragile environment. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, file)

Pope: Use pandemic to give the environment a vital ‘rest’

By Frances D'Emilio - Associated Press

FILE - In this photo taken on March 27, 2020, Pope Francis, white figure standing alone at center, delivers an Urbi et orbi prayer from the empty St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. If ever there was a defining moment of Pope Francis during the coronavirus pandemic, it came on March 27, the day Italy recorded its single biggest daily jump in fatalities. From the rain-slicked promenade of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis said the virus had shown that we’re all in this together, that we need each other and need to reassess our priorities. (Yara Nardi/Pool Photo via AP )

What happens when pandemic locks down a globe-trotting pope?

By NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press

In this Nov. 19, 2017, file photo Pope Francis celebrates a Mass in St. Peter basilica at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) ** FILE **

Pope: Rich can’t get priority for vaccine, poor need help

By Frances D'Emilio - Associated Press

Pope Francis delivers his blessing during the Angelus noon prayer he delivers from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. Pope Francis called on politicians to create jobs so that economies can relaunch after the lockdowns imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis uses COVID-19 pandemic to call for end to ‘individualism’

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

FILE -- In this Jan. 12, 2007 file photo archbishop Slawoj Leszek Glodz talks to reporters after an extraordinary meeting of Poland's Catholic Church, in Warsaw, Poland. Friday, Jan. 12, 2007. Pope Francis continued Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, cleaning house in Poland following revelations about clergy sexual abuse and cover-up, replacing Glodz, the powerful archbishop of Gdansk, on his 75th birthday.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Pope cleans house in Poland after abuse, cover-up scandal

By NICOLE WINFIELD and VANESSA GERA - Associated Press

Former European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi, foreground, listens to the Bank of Italy annual speech in Rome, Friday, May 29, 2020. (Alessandro Di Meo/Pool Photo via AP)

Pope names Draghi, ex-head of European Central Bank to panel

Associated Press

Pope denounces unimaginable “hell” of Libyan migrant camps

Associated Press

Pope Francis speaks during the Angelus prayer from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square, after celebrating a Mass for the Feast of Rome's Patrons Saints Peter and Paul, at the Vatican, Monday, June 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

Polish group seeks pope’s action against sex abuse, cover-up

By NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press

A man, wearing a protective face mask, pushes a dolly filled with empty containers, as he and a child go in search of water in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, June 20, 2020, during a relaxation of restrictive measures amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

The Latest: New Zealand reports 2 new coronavirus cases

By The Associated Press - Associated Press

Pope Francis adresses doctors and nurses from the coronavirus-ravaged Lombardy region, at the Vatican, Saturday, June 20, 2020. Francis told the delegation on Saturday that their example of professional competence and compassion would help Italy forge a new future of solidarity. The northern region of Lombardy, Italy’s financial and industrial capital, was the hardest-hit region in the onetime European epicenter of the pandemic. (Vatican News via AP)

Pope hails Italy virus doctors, nurses as heroes at Vatican

By NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press

A porter rests on his cart amid the new coronavirus pandemic, in La Victoria district of Lima, Peru, Friday, June 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Pandemic becomes a patchwork of small successes and setbacks

By KEN MORITSUGU and JILL LAWLESS - Associated Press