Six young people, aged 10 to 16, said Mary began appearing to them in June 1981 in Medjugorje, a town in what was then Yugoslavia and is now Bosnia-Herzegovina.

As the Emmaus Community for the poor investigates accusations of sexual abuse against its once-iconic, now disgraced, founder Abbé Pierre, the case made international headlines as Pope Francis commented on it while on his return voyage to Rome from Asia last week.

The 87-year-old Pope Francis publicly thanked God for allowing him “to do as an old pope what I would have liked to do as a young Jesuit,” and that is to travel to Asia to preach the Gospel.

Young people must reject indifference and embrace their role as a generation of hope and unity to build a better future for the world, Pope Francis said.

The second session of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, set to bring 368 bishops, priests, religious and laypeople to the Vatican, will begin by asking forgiveness for various sins on behalf of all the baptized.

Issuing a Vatican postage stamp celebrating the 40th anniversary of full diplomatic relations between the United States and the Holy See is a sign of the importance the Vatican attributes to their relationship, said the president of the commission governing Vatican City State.

Pope Francis lamented the death of an Israeli-American hostage abducted by Hamas and called for the immediate release of all hostages being held in Gaza.

It is not enough to know about Jesus, one must encounter him, be changed by his Gospel and follow him, Pope Francis said.

Asked what a U.S. Catholic given a choice between voting for a person who supports abortion or one who supports closing borders and deporting migrants, Pope Francis said one must choose “the lesser evil.”

The 87-year-old Pope Francis not only survived the longest trip of his pontificate, but he drew energy from the crowds who came to see him, and he seemed to enjoy his 12-day visit to Asia and the Pacific.