Catholic News Service

Christians should pray on Pentecost that the Holy Spirit would give them the courage and strength to share the Gospel, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis prayed that Catholics in China would be free to share the Gospel and live their faith fully.

During the Italian bishops' general assembly, Pope Francis met with bishops whose dioceses in the region of Emilia-Romagna have been devastated after intense rainfall triggered floods and landslides.

Pope Francis formally recognized the martyrdom of an Italian priest shot by Nazi soldiers after they discovered he was helping his parishioners hide about 100 Jews.

Pope Francis has appealed for a cease-fire in Sudan and for the international community to help promote dialogue. "It is sad, but, a month after the outbreak of violence in Sudan, the situation continues to be serious," he said after reciting the midday "Regina Coeli" prayer with about 25,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square May 21.

Pope Francis has asked Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna to lead a mission "to help ease tensions in the conflict in Ukraine," the Vatican press office said.

Global security cannot be guaranteed through stockpiling nuclear weapons but must be centered on an "equitable distribution of the world's goods," Pope Francis said.

The Catholic Church must combat clericalism among its ranks by giving authority to a "responsible and reliable" laity, the head of the Vatican's development dicastery said.

A man with apparent psychiatric problems forced his way through a Vatican security gate late May 18 by speeding past Swiss Guards and Vatican gendarmes in a vehicle before being apprehended in a Vatican courtyard.

A popular blog that closely monitors the Vatican has reported that Pope Francis wants to send envoys to Moscow and Kyiv to begin discussions about achieving a truce.

Asking European leaders for "creative efforts for peace" in Ukraine, the Vatican secretary of state said the Holy See "will continue to do its part."

The Vatican has pulled from circulation a World Youth Day stamp of Pope Francis with young people in an image that resembles propaganda from Portugal's former dictatorship.

Pope Francis wrote about the connections between the dominate global economic system and climate change in a preface to the Italian book, "The Taste for Change: Ecological Transition as the Path to Happiness," by the Jesuit economist Fr. Gaël Giraud and Carlo Petrini, the Italian founder of the International Slow Food Movement.

St. Francis Xavier offers the faithful, especially young people who are itching to make a difference in the world, a wonderful example of how to find courage in prayer and spread the joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis said.

Meeting the press, the new leaders of Caritas Internationalis vowed to treat staff and members of the Caritas network with the same love and respect that they treat the poor and needy they serve around the globe.

Although she died centuries ago, the English mystic Julian of Norwich continues to remind people of the importance of "faith in God's loving providence and holiness of life expressed in generous service to our brothers and sisters in need," Pope Francis said.

Caritas Internationalis, the global Catholic charity network, elected Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo to be its new president following a Vatican-mandated overhaul of its leadership.

Pope Francis updated the "Fundamental Law of Vatican City State," opening the possibility that laypeople can be members of its governing commission and emphasizing that the independence of the city-state is essential for the mission of the Holy See.

Peace is urgently needed in today's world, and women should be more greatly appreciated, Pope Francis told hundreds of Catholic women.

In encouraging the peaceful resolution of conflicts and in promoting the common good on the international stage, the Vatican embraces a strategy of "positive neutrality," which allows it to dialogue with all sides, Pope Francis said.