Journalists must not foment fear when covering issues or events such as forced migration due to war or famine, Pope Francis has said.

Pope Francis donned a green hospital gown over his white cassock and entered the neonatal unit of a Rome hospital, peering in the incubators, making the sign of the cross and encouraging worried parents.

Do not treat evangelisation as a simple mechanical task or a reason to brag, Pope Francis has said last week.

With a large tapestry bearing the portrait of the woman known as the ‘Saint of the Gutters’ suspended above him, Pope Francis proclaimed the sainthood of Mother Teresa of Kolkata, hailing her courage and love for the poor.

After a strong earthquake struck central Italy and with the early news reporting many deaths and serious damage, Pope Francis turned his weekly general audience on 24 August into a prayer service.

The “narrow gate” to salvation described by Jesus isn’t narrow because God is oppressive, but because pride bloats Christians and prevents them from entering God’s merciful embrace, Pope Francis has said.

When Pope Francis canonises Blessed Teresa of Kolkata on 4 September, he won’t simply be fulfilling a special duty of his office, he will be honouring a woman he has called “a symbol, an icon for our age.”

Celebrating how God’s mercy has been experienced for 800 years in a tiny stone church in Assisi, Pope Francis said people need to experience God’s forgiveness and start learning how to forgive others.

Sitting with head bowed and eyes closed, Pope Francis paid silent tribute to the victims of one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. The Pope arrived on 29 July at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, an area now blanketed by green fields and empty barracks lined by barbed wire fences, remnants of a horror that remains embedded in history.

With his visit to World Youth Day only a few days away, Pope Francis asked young pilgrims to accompany his visit to Krakow, Poland, with prayers.