The Catholic Church in the United States is grappling with a tendency to become more “auto-referential” and withdraw itself from the international stage and universal church, Pope Francis’ representative to the United States said.

The pope’s diplomats are men of faith located all over the world to uphold the pope’s positions on international matters, to edify the universal church and to serve the Gospel, said Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister.

Be loving and compassionate fathers to the marginalized, Pope Francis told members of the Brothers of Christian Instruction, commonly known as the La Mennais Brothers.

Experts in history, philosophy, sociology, political science, psychology and education came together at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University April 17-19 to present talks including: the effects of mass violence waged by colonial powers; the misuse of the memory of the Holocaust; sexual predation in the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages; and slave holding by Jesuits in the the United States.

Respecting and loving the earth as well as seeking direct contact with nature “are values that we need so much today as we discover ourselves increasingly powerless before the consequences of irresponsible and short-sighted exploitation of the planet,” he told members of the Italian Catholic Movement of Adult Scouts.

Peace can spread and grow from “small seeds” like including someone who is left out of an activity, showing concern for someone who is struggling, picking up some litter and praying for God’s help, Pope Francis told Italian schoolchildren.

Pope Francis appealed to countries at war to release prisoners and offered special prayers for those who have endured torture.

Exercising the virtue of temperance is not a recipe for a boring life, Pope Francis said, but rather it is the secret to enjoying every good thing.

Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals continued their discussions about the role of women in the church, listening to women experts, including a professor who spoke about how culture impacts women’s roles and status.

One day before Iran launched missiles and exploding drones at Israel, Pope Francis sent a message to viewers of Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya Network pleading for peace throughout the Middle East.