Vatican City

Pope Francis said on Sunday that the Catholic Church is open to everyone, including homosexuals, and that it has a duty to accompany them on a personal path of spirituality but within the framework of its rules.

Pope Francis left hospital on Friday after undergoing a hernia operation and headed to the Vatican, where his health will be under increasing scrutiny ahead of a busy summer.

A man visiting St Peter's Basilica on Thursday stripped off his clothes and stood naked on the church's main altar in what appeared to be a protest against the war in Ukraine, a Vatican source said.

On May 27, he had a brief meeting with Pope Francis along with his wife Helen Morris in the Vatican City.

Pope Francis appeared to ask Russians to seek the truth about their country's invasion of Ukraine in his Easter message to the world on Sunday and appealed for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians following recent violence.

Pope Francis has said that pontiffs resigning instead of ruling for life should not become a "fashion" in the Roman Catholic Church and happen only in truly exceptional circumstances.

The Vatican confirmed Tuesday it had opened an inquiry into its most famous cold case, the disappearance of a teenager 40 years ago which sparked countless theories and a hit Netflix series.

To the sound of tolling bells, 12 pallbearers carried the wooden coffin of Pope Benedict out of St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday and placed it before thousands of faithful gathered in the square for his funeral.

Pope Francis will preside Thursday over the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI at the Vatican, an unprecedented event in modern times expected to draw tens of thousands of people.

Tens of thousands of people paid their respects on Monday to former pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, at the start of three days of lying-in-state in St Peter's Basilica before his funeral.

Pope Benedict the Sixteenth died Saturday at the age of 95, the Vatican announced, almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries.

Pope Francis on Saturday led the world's Catholics into Christmas, saying in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts that the level of greed and hunger for power was such that some wanted to "consume even their neighbours".

The official Vatican website was taken offline on Wednesday following an apparent hacking attack, the Holy See said.

The Kremlin said on Monday that it welcomed a Vatican offer to provide a negotiating platform to resolve the Ukraine conflict, but that Kyiv's position made this impossible.

The Vatican on Saturday expressed regret at the appointment of a bishop in a diocese in China that the Holy see does not recognise, saying it violated a 2018 deal with Beijing and hinting at political pressure.

Pope Francis said on Sunday that the Catholic Church is open to everyone, including homosexuals, and that it has a duty to accompany them on a personal path of spirituality but within the framework of its rules.

Pope Francis left hospital on Friday after undergoing a hernia operation and headed to the Vatican, where his health will be under increasing scrutiny ahead of a busy summer.

A man visiting St Peter's Basilica on Thursday stripped off his clothes and stood naked on the church's main altar in what appeared to be a protest against the war in Ukraine, a Vatican source said.

On May 27, he had a brief meeting with Pope Francis along with his wife Helen Morris in the Vatican City.

Pope Francis appeared to ask Russians to seek the truth about their country's invasion of Ukraine in his Easter message to the world on Sunday and appealed for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians following recent violence.

Pope Francis has said that pontiffs resigning instead of ruling for life should not become a "fashion" in the Roman Catholic Church and happen only in truly exceptional circumstances.

The Vatican confirmed Tuesday it had opened an inquiry into its most famous cold case, the disappearance of a teenager 40 years ago which sparked countless theories and a hit Netflix series.

To the sound of tolling bells, 12 pallbearers carried the wooden coffin of Pope Benedict out of St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday and placed it before thousands of faithful gathered in the square for his funeral.

Pope Francis will preside Thursday over the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI at the Vatican, an unprecedented event in modern times expected to draw tens of thousands of people.

Tens of thousands of people paid their respects on Monday to former pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, at the start of three days of lying-in-state in St Peter's Basilica before his funeral.

Pope Benedict the Sixteenth died Saturday at the age of 95, the Vatican announced, almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries.

Pope Francis on Saturday led the world's Catholics into Christmas, saying in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts that the level of greed and hunger for power was such that some wanted to "consume even their neighbours".

The official Vatican website was taken offline on Wednesday following an apparent hacking attack, the Holy See said.

The Kremlin said on Monday that it welcomed a Vatican offer to provide a negotiating platform to resolve the Ukraine conflict, but that Kyiv's position made this impossible.

The Vatican on Saturday expressed regret at the appointment of a bishop in a diocese in China that the Holy see does not recognise, saying it violated a 2018 deal with Beijing and hinting at political pressure.