The long read: His modesty and humility have made him a popular figure around the world. But inside the church, his reforms have infuriated conservatives and sparked a revolt

Pope Francis has outlawed the sale of cigarettes at the Vatican in a bid to lead by example on healthy living. "The Holy Father has decided that the Vatican will cease to sell cigarettes to employees as of 2018," the Vatican said in a statement on Thursday. "The reason is very simple: the Holy See cannot contribute to an activity that clearly damages the health of people," it said, adding that smoking claims more than seven million lives every year, according to the World Health Organization.

Pope Francis has a message for Catholics: Put down your smartphone during Mass. During a general audience at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Wednesday morning, Francis chastised Catholics who use their phones during Mass. “At some point, the priest during the Mass says, ‘Lift up your hearts,’” the pontiff said. “He does not say, ‘Lift up your cellphones to take pictures.’”

Pope Francis received a white-and-yellow Lamborghini as a gift on Wednesday - but he won't be using it on the tree-shaded roads of the Vatican gardens. The donated Lamborghini Huracan, which normally sells for more than $200,000 (£151,860), was signed by the pope outside his Vatican residence and will be auctioned by Sotheby's, with proceeds given to the pontiff to help the needy.

“Lead us not into temptation” is not quite right, Francis said. “Do not let us fall into temptation” might be more precise.

Pope Francis on Saturday warned against the dangers of disinformation and underscored what he called "an urgent need for reliable information" from the news media. "There is an urgent need for reliable information, with verified data and news, which does not aim to amaze and excite, but rather to make readers develop a healthy critical sense, enabling them to ask themselves appropriate questions and reach justified conclusions," the pope said to a gathering of journalists at the Vatican.

Pope Francis has blown out his birthday candle on an extra-long pizza at the Vatican to the delight of children. Francis, who turned 81 on Sunday, then told the children, who use a Vatican health service, to "eat all four meters (13 feet)," saying it will make them grow. Later, thousands of children in St. Peter's Square shouted birthday wishes to Francis. He replied from his window overlooking the square: "Thanks a lot, thanks a lot." His birthday coincided with his weekly Sunday appearance to faithful.

Cardinal Bernard Law died on Wednesday, Dec. 20, in Rome. Law was Archbishop of Boston, a position of prestige in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He had wide political connections, including with the Bush family. He publicly denounced Catholic politicians who supported abortion rights. But this power and influence came to an end when The Boston Globe revealed how Cardinal Law had concealed sexual abuse committed by priests.

Pope Francis used his Christmas message on Monday to call for a negotiated two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after U.S. President Donald Trump stoked regional tensions with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Pope Francis in Christmas Eve remarks Sunday likened the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem to the migrations of millions of people today who are forced to leave homelands for a better life, or just for survival, and he expressed hope that no one will feel "there is no room for them on this Earth." Francis celebrated late evening Christmas vigil Mass in the splendor of St. Peter's Basilica, telling the faithful that the "simple story" of Jesus' birth in a...

Pope Francis in his year-end message said that 2017 had been marred by war, lies and injustice, and he urged people to take responsibility for their actions.

Several Catholic churches have been vandalised in Chile in advance of Pope Francis' visit to the country next week.

Pope Francis said on Monday he was really afraid about the danger of nuclear war and that the world now stood at “the very limit”. His comment, made as he flew off for a visit to Chile and Peru, came after Hawaii issued a false missile alert that provoked panic in the U.S. state and highlighted the risk of possible unintended nuclear war with North Korea.

Pope Francis strongly condemned corruption in Latin America as a "social virus" infecting all aspects of life in stern remarks Friday to Peru's president and high-ranking political leaders, several of whom are embroiled in the region's biggest graft scandal. Hours after decrying the destruction of Peru's Amazon, the pontiff warned President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and other leaders gathered that another, more subtle form of environmental degradation is also pervading society: corruption.

Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned fake news as satanic, saying journalists and social media users should shun and unmask manipulative “snake tactics” that foment division to serve political and economic interests.

Pope Francis, in his Easter address on Sunday, called for peace in the Holy Land two days after 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers on the Israeli-Gaza border, saying the conflict there "does not spare the defenseless". The pope made his appeal in his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to tens of thousands of people in the flower-bedecked square below where he earlier celebrated a Mass.

The Vatican arrested a diplomat Saturday who was recalled from his Washington, D.C., post last year while under investigation for possessing child pornography in the United States and Canada. A statement from the Vatican identified the accused man as Msgr. Carlo Alberto Capella, a high-ranking priest in the Vatican's diplomatic corps. He was arrested after a warrant was issued by the Vatican's chief magistrate at the conclusion of an investigation, according to the statement.

Pope Francis has admitted he made “grave errors” in judgment in Chile’s sex abuse scandal and invited the abuse victims he had discredited to Rome to beg their forgiveness. In an extraordinary letter published Wednesday, Francis also summoned Chile’s bishops to the Vatican for an emergency meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the scandal, which has badly tarnished his reputation and that of the Chilean church.

The world’s oldest standing army is getting some new headgear. The Swiss Guards plan to replace their metal helmets with plastic PVC ones made with a 3-D printer, giving the pope’s army cooler and more comfortable headgear when standing guard for hours at a time. The Swiss Guards unveiled the helmet prototype before their annual swearing-in ceremony Sunday. Thirty-two new recruits — all of them single Swiss men under age 30 and upstanding Catholics — will join the small corps for a minimum two years by pledging to protect the pope and his successors.

All of Chile's 34 Roman Catholic bishops have offered Pope Francis their resignations in the wake of a child sex scandal and cover-up. They asked forgiveness from victims and the Church for their "grave errors and omissions". It was not immediately clear whether the Pope had accepted the resignations.