Pope & Ex-Pope: Straight Marriages Only

Today the Vatican released an 82-page document co-written by Pope Francis and former Pope Benedict in which the pair says that marriage is only blah blah blah.

Francis paid tribute to pope emeritus Benedict XVI in the encyclical, saying that the ex-pontiff had "almost completed" the text before stepping down in a historic resignation this year and that he himself had merely added "further contributions." The 82-page text stresses that there is no contradiction between the Catholic faith and the modern world and calls for more dialogue with scientists, other religions and non-believers. It also restates the Catholic Church's position on marriage saying it should be a "stable union of man and woman." "This union is born of their love, as a sign and presence of God's own love, and of the acknowledgement and acceptance of the goodness of sexual differentiation," reads the text.

Also today, Pope Francis met Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby for the first time.

Welby has been opposing legislation in Britain that would legalize same-sex marriage, saying it would undermine family life. Francis said he hoped they could collaborate in promoting the sacredness of life "and the stability of families founded on marriage." Significantly, Francis didn't say that marriage should be between a man and woman, which is how Benedict XVI routinely defined marriage. Vatican officials said it was a diplomatic way of making his point without issuing a provocative pronouncement.

And in more Vatican news, here comes Saint John Paul II.

The Roman Catholic Church will declare the late Pope John Paul II a saint, the Vatican announced Friday. Pope Francis signed the decree Friday morning, the Vatican said. John Paul was pope from 1978 until his death in 2005, and was in a way the first rock star pontiff, drawing vast crowds as he crisscrossed the globe. At his funeral, thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square and chanted "Santo subito" -- Sainthood now! The Polish-born pope was fast-tracked to beatification and became "the blessed" John Paul II barely six years after his death, the fastest beatification in centuries.