Justin McLellan

Before praying the Angelus with some 25,000 visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square March 19, the pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St. John in which Jesus gives sight to a blind man on the Sabbath.

Being an apostle does not mean climbing up the church’s hierarchy to look down on others but humbling oneself in a spirit of service, Pope Francis said.

When Pope Francis greeted the thousands of faithful gathered in a rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square March 13, 2013, he quipped that his brother cardinals looked almost to “the ends of the earth” to find a new bishop of Rome.

Speaking to some 25,000 visitors gathered to pray the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square March 5, the pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew of Jesus’ Transfiguration, in which he appears to the disciples in radiant glory.