Pope Francis focused his remarks on the Sunday Gospel reading from St Matthew, in which Jesus tells the Pharisees that the greatest commandments are ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. “Jesus lived according to those two commandments. By Catholic News Service

Catholics must make a real effort to share the Gospel with all people, fighting the recurring temptation that leads some to focus only on internal Church matters or to be pessimistic about evangelisation efforts, Pope Francis wrote in a letter encouraging preparations for an ‘extraordinary missionary month’ to be celebrated in October 2019. By Cindy Wooden.

There is no sense in lamenting hunger and forced migration if one is unwilling to address the root causes, which are conflict and climate change, Pope Francis said. “War and climate change lead to hunger; so lets avoid presenting it as if it were a disease,” and instead implement laws, economic policies, and lifestyle changes that prevent the problems in the first place, he told world leaders. By Carol Glatz.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President Archbishop Denis Hart and Vice President Archbishop Mark Coleridge recently met with Vatican officials to discuss the crises facing the Church in Australia. The meeting on 5 October included discussion on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the relationship between the Church and society. With CNS and The Catholic Leader.

Obedient to his father, Jesus was patient with his sinning, fearful disciples throughout his lonely journey toward the cross, Pope Francis said on 3 October during morning Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Holy Father said when Jesus set out to go to Jerusalem, he knew he would face humiliation, suffering and death there, as his disciples would each fall away and not accompany him. By Carol Glatz.

The worst sin of all is not trusting in God’s infinite love and not believing that God is always waiting for his sinning children to return to him, Pope Francis has said during a Mass in the Vatican City. “He is always at the door, waiting for me to open it just a tiny bit to let him in, and to not be afraid” of past sins getting in the way of conversion, the Holy Father said in a Homily on 24 September. By Carol Glatz.

As President Trump and Supreme Leader Kim Jong‐Un face each other off in a global game of deadly brinkmanship, Pope Francis continues to promote Gospel non-violence as the best response for International Day of Peace on 21 September 2017. On 1 January this year, Pope Francis launched his message – Non-violence: a Style of Politics for Peace – written for the 50th Anniversary of the World Day of Peace.

Politicians and religious leaders cannot remain indifferent to the suffering caused by violence and hatred in the world, Pope Francis said on 10 September in a message to participants of the International Meeting of Prayer for Peace in the German cities of Munster and Osnabruck.

A day after appealing for an end the violent persecution of the Rohingya people, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, the Vatican announced Pope Francis will visit the country in late November. After his visit from 27 to 30 November to the cities of Yangon and Naypyitaw in Myanmar, the Pope will travel on to Dhaka, Bangladesh, from 30 November to 2 December, the Vatican said in a statement on 28 August. By Junno Arocho Esteves.

The eRecord this week recounts the life and priestly vocation of an extraordinary man and priest. One who, upon his retirement after 51 years of service, received both an Apostolic Blessing and the Papal Award ‘Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice’ (For Church and Pope) from Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.