The Catholic Church should not be discouraged by the challenge of confronting sex abuse, Pope Francis said, rather it must take concrete steps in developing policies to preserve the dignity of its members.

International Women’s Day has long been an occasion for women and men connected to the Vatican to gather to discuss the role of women in the church and society.

Since 2016, Gisella Cardia has claimed to be seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in the central Italian town of Trevignano Romano, some 30 miles north of Rome, after bringing a statue of Mary with her from a trip to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, which she said began to shed tears.

Pope Francis urged prideful people to recall one of Jesus’ moral commandments to “never judge.”

Crying out to God and demanding answers when one’s child dies is anything but a sign of a lack of faith, Pope Francis told a group of grieving Italian parents.

Pope Francis repeated his call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and said the international community has a “moral duty” to pursue disarmament worldwide.

Just as Jesus drove out merchants from the temple in Jerusalem, Christians should cleanse themselves from a transactional relationship with God by developing an intimacy with him like that of a family in their home, Pope Francis said.

Making the world a better place for everyone starts with prayer and little steps like saying hello, sorry or thank you, Pope Francis said in a letter to the world’s children.

The Holy Spirit sparks the inner outrage and courage needed to confront injustice and unacceptable situations, and to try to change them, Pope Francis said.

The first assembly of the synod on synodality demonstrated that an effective way to break the chains of clericalism and highlight the voices and experience of women in the church is to begin by listening and praying together before discussing issues, said two synod participants.