ROME, April 2: A jovial Pope Francis joked with well-wishers on Saturday as he left hospital after a three-night stay for bronchitis, and headed back to the Vatican to prepare for Christianity's most important week.

VATICAN CITY, Jan 2: Pope Francis apologized on Wednesday for having angrily slapped a woman’s arm when she had grabbed hold of his hand and yanked him towards her, saying he had lost his patience and set a “bad example”.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis offered a Christmas message of hope on Wednesday against darkness that cloaks conflicts and relationships in large parts of the world from the Middle East to the Americas to Africa.

VATICAN CITY, Oct 30: Thirty-seven years after the Falklands war, a tiny statue of the Madonna taken at the end of the conflict and held in Britain ever since is going home to Argentina in a gesture of reconciliation blessed by Pope Francis.

VATICAN CITY, August 4: Pope Francis on Sunday condemned attacks on “defenceless people” in a spate of gun violence in three American states, including one that killed 20 people in a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas.

RABAT, March 31: Pope Francis told Morocco’s tiny Catholic community on Sunday their role in the predominantly Muslim country was not to covert their neighbors but live in brotherhood with all other faiths.

BEIJING, Oct 15: Taiwan has invited Pope Francis to visit, its President Tsai Ing-wen said, just weeks after the Vatican reached a milestone deal on the appointment of bishops with China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own.

SEOUL, Oct 9: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants Pope Francis to visit the officially atheist country, South Korea said Tuesday.

MOSCOW, Sept 23: After more than 60 years of uncertainty regarding Catholic clergy members operating in China, the Vatican announced a historic accord, recognizing those bishops appointed by Beijing and setting new rules for their reappointment.

DUBLIN. Aug 26: Pope Francis vowed on Saturday to end the sexual exploitation of children by clergy during a highly-charged visit to once deeply Catholic Ireland and, according to victims, said the corruption and cover up of abuse amounted to human excrement.