The Holy Father will canonise Blessed Acutis on 27 April, during the Jubilee for Adolescents in Rome to be held from 25 to 27 April and Blessed Frassati during the Jubilee of Young People in Rome to be held from 28 July to 3 August.

Reflecting on her term, Ms Porro described her role in the Eternal City as a “great privilege,” highlighting her efforts to address critical global issues such as climate change, women’s empowerment, and equality.

In his homily, the Holy Father called on the church not to remain in a state of “blindness” to the issues in the church and the world, a blindness that can take the form of embracing worldliness, placing a premium on comfort or having a closed heart.

Christian prayer is not a person at one end of the telephone, speaking to God on the other; no, it is God who prays in us! We pray to God through God,” Pope Francis has said.

In his latest encyclical Dilexit Nos (He Loved Us) the Holy Father emphasised how only a deep and abiding love in the Lord can inspire and fuel Catholics to share the Gospel and God’s love with the world.

Members voted on each of the 155 paragraphs of the document, which made suggestions and requests to Pope Francis that included long-term projects, such as the hope that more lay people would be involved in the selection of bishops.

While the Holy Father explained the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to a couple through the sacrament of marriage, he repeatedly told visitors and pilgrims that the unity and love of parents are important for children’s growth and happiness.

The Ordinary Council, chaired by the Holy Father, will play a fundamental role in the implementation of the synodal process on synodality and the preparation of the next Synod.

By Justin McLellan ACBC President and Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB speaks during a Mass with members of the Synod of Bishops in St Peter's Basilica on 30 September, 2024. Synod members participated in a two-day retreat at the Vatican before the opening of the second session of the synod. Photo: CNS/Lola Gomez. Synod members must imitate Jesus' patience and acceptance toward oth...

Reflecting on the Gospel reading from St Matthew, Pope Francis noted that modern technology, in addition to its positive elements, provides “countless means to give an opportunity to the devil” to enter people’s lives, “and many fall in the trap.”