An interview with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, on Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq and what’s next for Vatican diplomacy in the Middle East.

According to three sources, it was significant that Francis called on Christians and the church to give witness to Jesus “not with theoretical condemnations but with gestures of love.”

The Vatican has issued a statement in which it declares that “the church does not have, and cannot have, the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex.” It said Pope Francis “was informed and gave his assent” to its publication.

Pope Francis recalled that when the Christian message first arrived, “You received the joy of the Gospel: the good news that God so loved us that he gave his Son for us. And this joy is evident in your people.”

A new Vatican instruction seeks to ensure that there is order in the celebration of the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and that Masses are celebrated in accordance with the norms and spirit of the liturgical renewal of the Second Vatican Council.

The Holy See’s income for 2021 is down 30 percent, so it has to draw on reserves to cover the budget deficit and avoid layoffs.

In an hour-long press conference on the plane to Rome, Francis spoke about how he felt he had “come back to life again” during the visit, after more than a year in “prison” when he could not meet people.

Pope Francis concluded his three-day trip to Iraq with a stadium Mass in which he said the country “will always remain with me, in my heart.” America's Vatican correspondent, Gerard O’Connell, reports.

On the second day of his trip to Iraq, Pope Francis met with a Shia Muslim leader in Najaf and delivered a message of religious unity in the ancient community of Ur. Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell reports.

Defying the pandemic and the security risks, Pope Francis finally stepped onto Iraqi soil at Baghdad international airport at 12:45 p.m. on March 5, realizing a visit that he had desired from the beginning of his pontificate and that had evaded his predecessors.