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Pope Francis formally institutes the office of catechist as a ministry within the Church. With an apostolic letter entitled Antiquum Ministerium, released on May 11, the Pope establishes the lay ministry, and announces that the Vatican would soon publish a ritual for the commissioning of catechists.
2021-05-11

Pope Francis names for first time in Vatican history female members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
2019-07-8

A court in Radom, Poland, hands a six-month suspended prison term and a 10,000 zloty fine to a Russian pilot who caused a security scare during Pope Francis's 2016 visit for World Youth Day. The Russian had flown from the Czech Republic to compete in an international aerobatics competition and unknowingly violated a no-fly zone imposed for the papal visit. After failing to contact the aircraft, local authorities scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to intercept it.
2018-04-20

Pope Francis accepts the diplomatic credentials of new ambassadors to the Holy See from Azerbaijan, Chad, India, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Swaziland, and Yemen. In his welcoming address, the Pope mentions "the key role that dialogue plays in enabling diversity".
2017-12-14

Pope Francis ends his six-day trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh by visiting the Rohingya refugees in Dhaka.
2017-12-2

From the Diocese of Tonga, Catholic Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi is welcomed at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus in Honolulu, Hawaii. Appointed by Pope Francis, Mafi is the first and youngest cardinal from the small South Pacific nation of Tonga.
2016-01-16

President of the United States Barack Obama meets Pope Francis for the first time since Francis' inauguration.
2014-03-27

Pope Francis visits the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, holds a mass to pay tribute to the many immigrants who have drowned trying to reach Europe and condemns the "global indifference" to their plight.
2013-07-8

Thousands of people gather in Rome's Saint Peter's Square to hear Pope Francis deliver his first Angelus prayer and blessing.
2013-03-17

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina is elected as the new pope, taking the papal name Pope Francis. He is the first pope of the Catholic Church from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope.
2013-03-13