Cindy Wooden

Telling parents and godparents to teach their little ones to pray from the time they are small, Pope Francis baptized 13 babies in the Sistine Chapel as their older brothers and sisters looked on -- or got away and ran around.

Pope Benedict XVI was a renowned theologian, a "recognized authority," who left "a rich legacy of studies and research on the fundamental truths of the faith," said the official summary of his life and papacy.

The person closest to Pope Benedict XVI for the past two and a half years said the most important thing about him was that "the faith he learned, taught and proclaimed was the faith he lived."

The consecrated women who cared for Pope Benedict XVI in his retirement gently stroked his hands before his body was carried on a red-covered stretcher to a van for its last journey to St. Peter's Basilica.

During his many years at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as well as during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI made incisive contributions to the search for Christian unity, although some of his teaching also was read as ecumenically insensitive.

In trying to help people understand how belief in God is a natural part of life and provides grounding for the values that protect human dignity and peaceful coexistence, the late Pope Benedict XVI saw Jews and Muslims as natural allies.

With the birth of Jesus, God became flesh to share the joys and sorrows, hopes and fears of all people, especially the poor and those living daily amid danger, Pope Francis said in his Christmas message.

Pope Francis said he wrote a resignation letter in 2013, his first year in office, to be used in case he became physically or mentally impaired and unable to fulfill the duties of the papacy.

The Vatican has had diplomatic contact with Russia regarding comments Pope Francis made about Russian minorities being responsible for the worst acts of cruelty in the country's war on Ukraine.

Vigilance is an essential part of the spiritual life because the devil will try to sneak in when one is not paying attention or, especially, when a Christian thinks he or she is making a lot of progress on the road to holiness, Pope Francis said.