The training, discipline and motivation needed even by amateur athletes are also tools for spiritual growth, Pope Francis said.

Caring for the sick and suffering includes drawing attention to those who suffer in silence, struggling to find someone who will acknowledge they are in pain and try to help, Pope Francis said.

The pope’s message for International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking, observed Feb. 8, was directed to young people. He encouraged them to build their own sense of dignity and care for the dignity of every person they meet.

Pope Francis urged all people to be in solidarity with the regions of Turkey and Syria struck by two powerful earthquakes early Feb. 6 and that are “in part already martyred by a long war.”

On the feast of Sudan-born St. Josephine Bakhita, Pope Francis prayed for “a future of justice and peace for our brothers and sisters in Africa.”

Pope Francis’ visit to Congo and his ecumenical pilgrimage to South Sudan put a face — actually, thousands of faces — on the horror of war.

Pope Francis expressed his “spiritual closeness” and “solidarity” with those affected by a pair of powerful earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria Feb. 6.

At the end of six days in African countries bloodied by war and conflict, Pope Francis said that “the biggest plague” afflicting the world today is the weapons trade.

The papal property at Castel Gandolfo, with its vast gardens and diverse livestock, will now be the home of a new scientific and educational center dedicated to promoting integral ecology, sustainability, and a circular and generative economy.

Pope Francis, Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and the Rev. Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, made history Feb. 3 when they began an ecumenical pilgrimage to the world’s youngest nation, but one that has known war and violent conflicts for nine of the 11 years since independence.