The polarization Pope Francis sees in the Catholic Church in the United States is not only a U.S. problem, Cardinal-designate Christophe Pierre, Vatican nuncio in the United States, told Vatican News.

God chooses certain people not to exclude others, but always to include everyone by way of the missionary and social outreach of his disciples, Pope Francis said.

As Argentines prepare to elect their new president Oct. 22, a group of clergy close to Pope Francis launched an unprecedented intervention in the highly charged political atmosphere in the South American country.

After Pope Francis told young Russian Catholics they were heirs of “the great, educated Russian Empire,” Ukraine’s bishops told him that some of his statements were “painful and difficult for the Ukrainian people” and are used by Russia to justify its invasion of Ukraine.

Pope Francis said he knows people wonder why he traveled close to 6,000 miles to Mongolia to visit a Catholic community of only 1,450 people.

With a beatification Mass for the Ulma family set for Sept. 10, the Vatican emphasized that all nine members of the Polish family are considered martyrs, including the child that was born during the massacre.

Visiting Mongolia Sept. 1-4, Pope Francis encouraged the nation’s tiny Catholic community to grow in faith and charity, but the visit also was designed to reassure the government that it has nothing to fear from the Catholic missionaries who arrived in the country in 1992.

The pope admitted Sept. 4 it was not his best moment when he cited the examples of Peter the Great and Catherine II, who conquered and subjugated neighboring nations and who Russian President Vladimir Putin has evoked as role models in his war on Ukraine.

The Synod of Bishops is not a television show or a parliamentary debate, and its discussions will not be open to the public or to reporters, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis ended his four-day visit to Mongolia where Catholic missionaries began — with charity.