As Great Britain and Ireland debate right-to-life issues in current health care policies and legislation, Pope Francis encouraged Catholics there to uphold “the inestimable value of all human life.”

The drama in Texas over abortion that drew national and international attention came to an end for the moment after the state House of Representatives then the state Senate voted to adopt tougher abortion regulations.

As hundreds of thousands of young Catholic pilgrims descend on Brazil, World Youth Day coordinators in Rio de Janeiro are putting the finishing touches on preparations for up to 2.5 million people.

God wants people to be generous and merciful, not full of condemnation toward others, Pope Francis said. God is well aware of “our miseries, our difficulties, even our sins, and he gives all of us this merciful heart,” capable of being loving and merciful toward others, he told pilgrims gathered outside the papal summer villa.

Using the example of a big-hearted giraffe, the superior general of the Jesuits, Father Adolfo Nicolas, told 2,000 World Youth Day pilgrims: “Keep your eyes and your hearts open.”

A British official indicated the government will abandon a controversial end-of-life protocol following an anti-euthanasia campaign spearheaded by concerned Catholic physicians. An independent inquiry into the Liverpool Care Pathway has recommended that the protocol be abolished and replaced by “individualized care plans” after evidence of abuse and suffering was discovered.

At the age of 24, Meylan Legorburo had never left Cuba and never expected she would. Yet, on July 15, the social researcher and 47 other young Cubans were on their way to Jose Marti International Airport outside of Havana to board a flight for Brazil, where they planned to take part in World Youth Day.

Sweet and simple: That’s the menu plan for Pope Francis when he stays at a church-run residence during his visit to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day.

Blessed John Paul II rallied young Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI instructed them and Pope Francis is preparing to send them out on mission. When he travels to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day, Pope Francis — the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina — will be continuing a tradition begun by Blessed John Paul in Buenos Aires in 1987, gathering Catholic youths from around the world together for several intense days of faith-building and celebration.

Pope Francis offered prayers for the people touched by the tragic July 6 train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, said the Vatican secretary of state.