Vatican

Following two doctrinally conservative leaders, Pope Francis' pastoral approach in his first year has given the Catholic Church a new glow. But it's still unclear where he intends to take the church.

As the pope begins a meeting with his Council of Cardinals, an Italian newspaper publishes a wide-ranging interview with him, in which the pontiff affirms separation of church and state and expounds on the nature of good and evil.

Pope Francis has selected the Second Sunday of Easter as the date for their canonization. The ceremony at the Vatican is expected to draw large crowds, especially from John Paul II's native Poland.

Francis' comments came in a wide-ranging interview with 16 Jesuit publications. He said when the church does speak about issues like gays, abortion and contraception, it should do so in context. "It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time," he said.

In an interview, Archbishop Pietro Parolin said priest celibacy is not an untouchable church dogma. What his declaration signals, however, is still up in the air.

A Catholic publication reports the pope emeritus did not see an apparition. Instead, it was a mystical experience.

There's no proof that Giovanni Palatucci saved the lives of 5,000 Jews, say historians who studied a trove of wartime documents. Supporters of Palatucci are fighting back, as Holocaust museums pull exhibits on the Italian policeman who had been on the track to sainthood.

In an unusually candid news conference, the pope said gay people should be integrated into society instead of being ostracized. His view of gays is being seen as diverging from his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. He also divulged what he keeps in his black bag.

The final event of Francis' five-day visit to heavily Catholic Brazil has helped him ride a crest of popularity that largely eluded his predecessor.

By visiting a shanty town, Pope Francis highlighted his affinity for the poor. As night fell, Francis headed to the iconic, and much wealthier, Copacabana beach.