They call on the church “not to be impressed” by “the bad advocacies, the diabolical lies, the erroneous ways by which they wished to devalue priestly celibacy” in the media reporting of that synod.

Francis also changed the norms of the office so that the dean would be elected to a five-year term renewable only once.

Pope Francis stressed the need for reform and a new approach to evangelization in his annual Christmas address to the Roman Curia. America‘s Vatican correspondent, Gerard O'Connell, reports.

Pope Francis has abolished the pontifical secret for sexual misconduct cases concerning clerics, reports America’s Vatican correspondent Gerard O'Connell, a decision long called for by survivors of abuse.

On this 50th anniversary of his priesthood, Francis, who now sees himself as “the world’s parish priest,” continued working as usual with a long series of audiences in the morning, including singers and musicians who will perform in the annual Vatican concert for Christmas.

The congregation's task has always been “the transmission and dissemination of the faith throughout the whole world.”