Francis, who turned 88 this past week, on Tuesday is due to inaugurate his big Holy Year and preside over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations in St. Peter's Basilica.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis called for a ceasefire on all war fronts in his Sunday Angelus prayer ahead of Christmas, condemning the ''cruelty'' of bombing schools and hospitals in Ukraine and Gaza.

Pope Francis told Vatican bureaucrats on Saturday to stop speaking ill of one another, as he once again used his annual Christmas greetings to admonish the back-stabbing and gossiping among his ...