Two Latin American women canonised by Argentinian pontiff, as well as 813 'martyrs of Otranto' slain in 1480 by Turkish invadersPope Francis has given the Catholic church a raft of new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonisation ceremony before tens of thousands of people in ...

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - At the Vatican on Friday not one, not two, but three popes were inside the tiny city-state's walls at the same time. Coptic Pope Tawadros II and Catholic Pope Francis, each addressing the other as "Your Holiness", prayed together for reconciliation among communities and nations without mention of events in Egypt. Tawadros has ...

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI came home to the Vatican on Thursday for the first time since he resigned Feb. 28, beginning an unprecedented era for the Catholic Church of having a retired pontiff living alongside a reigning one.

Benedict XVI moved back to the Vatican on Thursday to live out retirement as neighbors with ruling Pope Francis for the first time. 'He is happy to be back at the Vatican ... where he intends to dedicate himself to the service of the Church, above all with prayer,' a Vatican statement said.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI came home to the Vatican on Thursday for the first time since he resigned Feb. 28, beginning an unprecedented era for the Catholic Church of having a retired pontiff living alongside a reigning one.