After praying the Angelus with an estimated 20,000 visitors in St. Peter’s Square Feb. 26, the pope prayed in a special way for those in the Holy Land to “find the way of brotherhood and peace with the aid of the international community.”

If the goal of a “synodal” church is to have all the baptized recognize their responsibility for the life and mission of the Catholic community, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet said that necessarily means taking a new look at priesthood.

The call to make sacrifices for others out of love remains urgent as so many people continue to suffer from war, violence, exclusion and poverty, Pope Francis said.

Isolating Syria from the international community through sanctions “benefits no one” and complicates relief efforts to the millions left homeless after earthquakes devastated the country, said a top Vatican official who visited Turkey and Syria.

In a meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the pope signed decrees Feb. 23 recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of an Italian religious sister and the heroic virtues of five others: two laywomen, two priests and a religious woman.

Pope Francis prayed that the sanctions in force against Syria since 2011 will not prevent aid from reaching the tens of thousands of victims in dire need after earthquakes killed more than 5,000 people and left many more injured or homeless.

– Support for basic science must be increased and defended from improper influences, “whether political or economic in nature,” Pope Francis told representatives of the Max Planck Society.

What matters is the truth and the love that God sees, not what is superficial, showy and self-centered, Pope Francis said during a Mass to mark the beginning of Lent.

Russia’s suspension of a nuclear arms treaty with the United States weakens structures promoting global security in the nuclear age, a senior Vatican official said.

A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis asked, “Can the Lord forgive so many crimes and so much violence? He is the God of peace.”