Catholic oratories and youth groups that provide after-school activities, religious education and a place for children and teens to gather should be loud, joyful places that help form good Catholics and good citizens, Pope Francis said.

Religious movements within the Catholic Church must advocate for peace and unity in the world at large and within their communities, Pope Francis said.

The peaceful means of diplomacy must be used to seek global solutions to the serious injustices that cause so many conflicts in the world, Pope Francis said.

With the input of two women and a priest, Pope Francis and members of his international Council of Cardinals discussed the role of women in the Catholic Church.

The world needs people to build alliances that are not against others, but are in favor of everyone, Pope Francis told faith leaders at the U.N. Climate Change Conference being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The end of the temporary cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas “means death, destruction, misery,” Pope Francis said.

The Advent call for “vigilance” does not mean staying awake and watchful out of fear, but rather out of a longing for the coming of the Lord, Pope Francis wrote.

The future of humanity depends on what people choose now, Pope Francis said in his message to global leaders at the World Climate Action Summit of the U.N. Climate Change Conference.

The journey of reconciliation between Catholics and Orthodox began with an embrace almost 60 years ago, a sign of how important personal contact and time spent together are in the search for Christian unity, Pope Francis said.

All the Catholic Church’s structures, including tribunals and faculties of canon law, must undergo a “pastoral and missionary conversion” to ensure the church is giving the world “the only thing it needs: the Gospel of the mercy of Jesus,” Pope Francis wrote.