Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed a special commission to examine the role of female deacons in the Church, in a potentially historic opening on the possibility of women joining the clergy.

From "The Period Song" to "How I Raped Your Mother", one all-women Indian production team is challenging conservative attitudes with no-holds-barred satirical videos that are causing a stir online.

Sunni Islamist radicals in Yemen have blown up a 16th century mosque housing the shrine of a revered Sufi scholar in the city of Taez, a local official said Sunday.

A French prosecutor on Monday dismissed a probe into allegations that Cardinal Philippe Barbarin covered up the sexual abuse of Scouts, in a case which shook the country's Catholic Church.

Pope Francis celebrated mass Sunday with over 1.5 million pilgrims in a vast sun-drenched field, wrapping up an emotionally charged trip to Poland with some choice technological metaphors.

Having to wear ski jackets in Riyadh is unheard of, but a new snow park in the Saudi capital has made them a must despite outside temperatures exceeding 45 Celsius.

Sitting in a Mexican prison's library, murder convict David Guzman tattooed a skull on a leather patch for a designer handbag to be sold in a luxury shop.

Guzman, 34, took drugs and stole at a young age, falling into a "nefarious" world that landed him in prison, but five years into his murder sentence, he appeared at peace as he drew the skeletal figure.

Christopher Sayegh holds up two syringes filled with cannabis compound, primed to pump tiny amounts into a pomegranate sorbet, or a juicy cut of Wagyu Japanese beef as part of a bold new sensory experiment.

As more US states move to legalize the use of recreational marijuana, the California chef is aiming to elevate haute cuisine to a new level.

Pope Francis took part in religious celebrations on Saturday at sites tied to two saints cherished in Poland — late pope St. John Paul II and St. Faustina, a mystic who had been a source of comfort to him.

Francis, who devoted the day to the theme of mercy, arrived early at the imposing Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Lagiewniki, a district of Krakow.

An elderly Afghan cleric has been arrested after he married a six-year-old girl, officials said Friday, in the latest case highlighting the scourge of child marriages in the war-battered country.