The Holy Year of Mercy will be an opportunity to encourage Christians to meet people’s “real needs” with concrete assistance, to experience a “true pilgrimage” on foot, and to send “missionaries of mercy” throughout the world to forgive even the most serious of sins, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella.

Caritas Australia, the international aid and development agency of the Catholic Church, has this week confirmed it has three staff members who are working with the people of Nepal in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.

With so many women and men being killed because of their faith in Christ, the Church today is a church of martyrs, Pope Francis said in a morning homily this week.

Pope Francis has last weekend quoted St John Paul II’s reference to the Armenian slaughter as ‘genocide’.

To enter Christ’s empty tomb like the disciples and see that He has risen, Christians today also must “bend down”, Pope Francis said in his Easter message.

The example St John Paul II gave the world is still alive and many people continue to be inspired by his faith, passion and joy, Pope Francis said.

Don’t be “halfway Christians” who accept Christ, but then start looking for excuses and stammering, the Pope said this week during Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Pope Francis met members of the Rome-based lay association Seguimi (‘Follow Me’) on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

In a letter to the bishops of Nigeria, Pope Francis assured his prayers and solidarity with the African nation which is suffering from violent attacks by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Each year, Project Compassion, which runs through the six weeks of Lent, brings hundreds of thousands of Australians together in solidarity with the world’s poor.