In an extraordinary move bridging a historical rift dating back to 451 AD, Pope Francis has added 21 Coptic Christians martyred by Islamic State terrorists on a Libyan beach in 2015 to the Roman Catholic Church's calendar, declaring them saints.
In an interview published Friday (March 10), Pope Francis called celibacy in the priesthood a gift from God but also a 'provisional' discipline observed mostly in the Western Church that is not essential to ordination.
Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly have condemned the criminalisation of homosexuality at the end of their historic peace pilgrimage to South Sudan.
The Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury and Moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly have called on the leaders of South Sudan to halt the bloodshed after years of civil war.