The Vatican has taken the first main step to implement Pope Francis’ wish that Belgium’s late king be beatified.

Remembered as a humble leader and a defender of the most vulnerable, especially unborn children, St. John Paul II described the fifth king of Belgium as a “great guardian of the rights of the human conscience.

ROME — The Vatican has taken the first main step to implement Pope Francis’ wish that Belgium’s late king be beatified for having abdicated for a day rather than approve legislation to legalize abortion. The Holy See’s saint-making office on Dec ...

He made the remarks a day after the start of the Roman Catholic Church’s Holy Year, known as a Jubilee, which takes place every quarter century. On Tuesday evening, Francis opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica so that the first pilgrims could go through. Millions more are expected to follow over the year.

Pope Francis has opened the great Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica. The ceremony kicks off the 2025 Holy Year.

Pope Francis on Saturday expressed his shock and spiritual closeness. Pope Francis on Saturday expressed his shock at the deadly attack at a Christmas market in eastern Germany that claimed five lives, including that of a child, and left more than 200 injured.

Pope Francis insisted that a “just and lasting peace” can only be achieved in our world if people first turn to the “Father of Mercies.”

The Vatican has taken the first main step to implement Pope Francis’ wish that Belgium’s late king be beatified for having abdicated for a day rather than approve legislation to legalize abortion.

Pope Francis is bringing his Holy Year to Rome’s main prison. Francis traveled to Rebibbia prison on a frigid morning.

Pope Francis made a visit on Thursday to one of the largest prison complexes in Italy, opening a special "Holy Door" for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, in what the Vatican said was the first such action by a Catholic pontiff.

Pilgrims lined up to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome as Christmas marks the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration.