Pope Francis on Feb. 2 urged 65,000 Congolese young people to resist the "poisonous temptation" of corruption that has long plagued the nation and to choose a different future for themselves.
Ukraine's religious leaders asked Pope Francis to visit Kyiv, said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
The world's religious traditions and their followers are called to offer wisdom to the world and to "infuse it with a spirit of warmth, healing and fraternity," which requires the participation of women as well as men, Pope Francis said.
God suffers and grieves when those who profess to believe in him do not love the people he loves and do not work for the justice he desires, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis has condemned the criminalization of homosexuality, becoming the first Roman pontiff to officially back the repeal of such legislation in countries where it exists.
Germany's bishops do not have the authority to establish a permanent decision-making body of bishops and laypeople that top Vatican officials said would supersede the authority of the country's bishops' conference, according to a letter from the officials published Jan. 23.
