Marking the beatification of an Italian judge murdered by the Mafia, a Vatican office announced the formation of a working group on "the excommunication of mafias."

The Christian idea of reforming one's life is not about making it perfect but initiating a process of going outside of oneself to best follow one's vocation and carry out a mission, Pope Francis said.

When popes were king, they ordered all their subjects in the Papal States to be vaccinated, using punishments and rewards to convince the hesitant and making sure the poor and the prisoners were...