First they embraced social media. Now they’re going green.

Pope Francis has outlined plans for reform of the Church to make it less “Vatican-centric” as he met with top cardinals tasked with helping him overhaul the 2,000-year-old institution.

FORMER junior roads minister Ivor Callely has always had something of the one-man political car crash about him.

ONE of the most memorable assessments of Margaret Thatcher was delivered by French president François Mitterrand when he declared: “She has the eyes of Stalin and the voice of Marilyn Monroe.”

Pope Francis celebrated his first Palm Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square today, encouraging people to be humble and young at heart, as tens of thousands joyfully waved olive branches and palm fronds.

POPE Francis surprised crowds of Catholic faithful who waited through the night for his inaugural Mass with a telephone call from the Vatican to the cathedral in Buenos Aires where he used to be archbishop.

Environment, the poor and the weakest are among the top prorities for Pope Francis, report Philip Pullella and Catherine Hornby

Jonathan deBurca Butler explores whether an Irish saint and Nostradamus really did predict the current pope

Pope Francis officially began his papacy as the 266th pontiff today in an installation Mass simplified to suit his style, but still grand enough to draw princes, presidents, rabbis, muftis and thousands of ordinary people to St Peter’s Square to witness the inauguration of the first Pope from the New World.

Pope Francis’s diplomatic skills were put to the test yesterday as he met with Argentine president Cristina Kirchner, with whom he has clashed over her socially liberal policies and what he has called the government’s strident displays of power.

Pope Francis today offered intimate insights into the moments after his papal election, telling an audience with the press that he was immediately inspired to take the name of St Francis of Assisi because of his work for peace and the poor.

In his first Mass as pope, Francis showed how different he would be as a pastor, giving an off-the-cuff homily about the need to walk with God, build up his Church, and confess — at one point referring to children building sandcastles on the beach.

“A Jesuit intellect and a Franciscan spirit may be exactly the combination of heart and head that the Church needs at this time.”

There was surprise and delight in Ireland when the Archbishop of Buenos Aires was announced as the new leader of the world’s 1.2bn Catholics.

Pope Francis has opened his pontificate this morning with a visit to Rome’s main basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The Catholic Church’s surprising new leader from “the end of the earth” will celebrate his first Mass as pope today.

Regarding Brigitte Bardot’s efforts to save two Asian elephants from being euthanised, I commend animal rights activist and anti-euthanasia advocate Brigitte Bardot for her efforts to rescue the elephants allegedly suffering from tuberculosis in a Lyon zoo.

As the debate on abortion progresses, we, Catholic people of Ireland, need to take stock and decide how we cope with what confronts us.

Goodness gracious, great squalls of friar... holy man Alessandro Brustenghi has become the first friar in the world to land a major record deal.

THEY live a hidden life of prayer, penance, and perpetual adoration behind closed doors, following a deeply religious way of life which has remained largely unchanged since the 13th century.

2010 was a disastrous one for Taoiseach Brian Cowen, but he is far from alone, writes Shaun Connolly, Political Correspondent

AMANDA KNOX has been given a large bag of Christmas presents by shopkeepers from a town near her prison, her mother said yesterday.

THE Virgin in the Tree Stump controversy that hit the headlines last week intrigues me. It has brought forth the predictable howls of ridicule to match the intense religious devotion of those who believe in the reality of a divine presence in the tree.

IN 1223, St Francis of Assisi simply and joyfully commemorated the scene of the nativity according to the infancy Gospel, and the crib thus became one of the traditional and best-loved symbols of Christmas.

An Taoiseach Mr Bertie Ahern TD today officially opened a new €1.4m extension to the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin’s north inner city.

Old rivals united across Northern Ireland’s political divide today for the funeral of the co-founder and first leader of the SDLP, Gerry Fitt.

Tommy Barker says the use of Italian craftsmen reflects the care with which this West Cork farmhouse has been renovated.

HAD St Francis of Assisi been engaged in animal welfare in this country, it’s more than likely he would have been done for it, despite his good intentions.