With a 21-cannon salute, Pope Francis was welcomed to Papua New Guinea Sept. 6, the second stop on his four-nation visit to Asia and the Pacific.

Even members of the most remote, smallest and poorest Christian communities are called to share the Gospel and to do so, first, by the way they live, Pope Francis told the Catholics of Indonesia.

The Christian call to share the Gospel is not about trying to win converts at all costs, but about living in a way that exudes Christian joy and always treats others with respect, Pope Francis told churchworkers in Indonesia.

Politicians have an essential role in preserving the unity of a nation by working for the common good and promoting cooperation, especially when “the exasperation of contrasts” threatens to divide a country, Pope Francis told Indonesia leaders.

Pope Francis landed in Jakarta after a 13-hour flight from Rome and was greeted by the religious affairs minister of Indonesia and two children in traditional dress who offered him flowers.

Traveling on an ITA Airways plane, Pope Francis set off on the longest foreign trip of his papacy.

In what was a devastating Sunday morning for hostage families, Israel said Sept. 1 that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents became outspoken global advocates for all hostages to be released.

The Earth is ailing, and it needs the prayers of Catholics as well as their personal commitment to caring for creation, Pope Francis said.

While expert scholarship and good stewardship mean the pontifical universities in Rome should be working together, Pope Francis said it is essential that the Pontifical Urbanian University does not lose its centuries-long focus on preparing missionaries from and to the varied cultures of the world.

Australian volunteers working in East Timor say excitement is growing ahead of Pope Francis’ visit there in September, when more than half of the mostly Catholic population is expected to converge on the capital Dili.