A Vatican statement said the 15th-century papal bulls, or decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples” and have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith.

The number of women working in the Vatican has increased during Pope Francis' 10 years as pope, though women still face resistance from certain members of the church.

A prominent Jesuit artist whose mosaics decorate churches around the globe has been barred from pursuing his artistic activity after 15 more people came forward with fresh accusations against him of spiritual, sexual and psychological abuse.

Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church.

The pope warned there's a risk that a reform process in the German Catholic Church over calls for married priests and other possible liberalizing reforms might become harmfully "ideological."

The pope acknowledged that he had needed to "wake up to cases that were all covered up."

Pope Francis says he hasn't even considered issuing norms to regulate future papal resignations and plans to continue for as long as he can as bishop of Rome, despite a wave of attacks by some top-ranking cardinals and bishops.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said that the publication of Archbishop Gänswein's tell-all book on Pope Benedict's private communications was "unseemly."

Pope Francis imparted the final blessing at the funeral of Cardinal Pell, who decried his papacy as a “catastrophe.”

Cardinal Pell, who died Tuesday, had written a memo outlining his concerns about Pope Francis' papacy, which was published soon after his death.