Catholic News Service

Speaking to reporters a few days before receiving their red hats, many of the 21 new cardinals said their induction into the College of Cardinals was less about them and more about their local church and its contribution to the universal church.

In addition to their three-day retreat outside of Rome, more than 350 members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops are expected to go on a pilgrimage "to the roots of the Christian faith," visiting the Rome catacombs.

The synod on synodality should dedicate substantial discussion to addressing sexual abuse in the church and include the voices of survivors, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said.

Hope and fraternity must be kept alive, organized and coordinated into concrete action so every crisis can be read as an opportunity and dealt with positively, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis said the title of his new letter on the environment will be "Laudate Deum," (Praise God), a frequent refrain in several psalms, including Psalm 148, which tells the heavens and the angels and the sun and moon to praise the Lord.

As Catholic young people around the world prepare for the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis has asked them to focus on hope.

In a message to an ecumenical meeting at a historic Benedictine abbey in Hungary, Pope Francis said Russia's war on Ukraine is a reminder of what the Second Vatican Council taught: "Any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities or of extensive areas along with their population is a crime against God and man himself."

On the recommendation of the Catholic bishops of mainland China in consultation with the Chinese government, Pope Francis has named two bishops from the country's mainland as members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

The Vatican urged members of the U.N. Security Council to be "creative and courageous artisans of peace and weavers of constructive dialogue" to find a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine.

Inspired by the dignity of each human being as revealed by Jesus, Christians are called to fight "every form of slavery," whether physical, social or spiritual, Pope Francis said.

During an ecumenical prayer service at the assembly of the Lutheran World Federation, the Vatican's chief ecumenist and the federation's general secretary formally called for a joint reflection on the Augsburg Confession, a fundamental statement of Lutheran faith.

The Vatican urged the international community to press for a "special statute" to guarantee religious freedom in the city of Jerusalem in any agreements regarding a peace deal between Israel and Palestine.

The Vatican has secured financial support to generate offsetting carbon credits by sending "efficient cooking stoves and water purification technologies to households, communities and institutions" in Kenya and Nigeria.

Kicking off the 2023 Clinton Global Initiative meeting of leaders in New York City Sept. 18, Pope Francis told former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the global community to take action to ensure peace for future generations and stop climate change "before it's too late."

Forgiveness, received freely and constantly from God, is a "fundamental value" for Christians that must be practiced and passed on to others, Pope Francis said.

The Vatican is asking all baptized people, regardless of whether they will be in Rome, to participate in October's assembly of the Synod of Bishops with their prayers.

Communicating Pope Francis' efforts to promote dialogue and advance peace efforts in Ukraine is a "great problem" for Catholic clergy and faithful in the country, said the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

When Pope Francis said he wanted the focus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to be "something very different" from the dicastery's reputation as a stringent watchdog, he was not saying anything goes, Cardinal-designate Víctor Fernández, the dicastery's new prefect, said in an interview.

Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who said Pope Francis tapped him not to mediate but to encourage dialogue that could end Russia's war on Ukraine, flew to China Sept. 12, Italian media reported.

After a severe storm set off flooding that breached dams in eastern Libya, leading to the deaths of thousands of people, Pope Francis sent his condolences and prayers.