Pope Francis is already a "spiritual success", his close friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka has said during a visit to Rome (video) Officials from the Holy See and Vietnam have begun new talks aimed at establishing full diplomatic relations. Sister Teresita Barajuen, believed to be the world's longest serving female religious, has died aged 105. Tens of thousands of people are expected in Rome this weekend for Evangelium Vitae Day, inspired by the 1995 encyclical defending human life. John Allen, Fr Ray Blake, Carlo Marroni and Mary Elizabeth Williams reflect on Pope Francis's alleged comments about a "gay lobby" in the Roman Curia. Patrick Clark considers whether Edward Snowden's decision to leak classified information about America's surveillance programme can be justified by Catholic teaching. And the Pope's Spanish Twitter feed now has more followers than the English one. Follow me on Twitter @lukecoppen for updates throughout the day.