Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, encouraged men and women in the military to download a new app designed to connect them to the Catholic faith and provide the consolation of prayer in times of war and uncertainty.

The lives of the saints prove that holiness is not an unreachable goal accomplished by a select few but comes from acknowledging and sharing God’s love, Pope Francis said.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired bishop of Hong Kong, reassured Catholics he is fine after being detained and held by national security police for his support of anti-government protesters.

Pope Francis will meet members of Canada’s Indigenous communities in late July, visiting the cities of Edmonton, Quebec and Iqaluit in Nunavut, the country’s most northern region.

The steady decline of birthrates across Europe and the West are signs of a new form of poverty that deprives humanity of a future, Pope Francis said.

Countries around the world must get serious about reforming their immigration policies to respect the rights of migrants and refugees and establish orderly procedures for welcoming newcomers, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis told older people to use retirement as a time to serve others and to sow the seeds of their wisdom.

After a long pandemic pause, Pope Francis is scheduled to celebrate a Mass May 15 for the canonization of 10 men and women: five from Italy, three from France, one from India and one from the Netherlands.

Pope Francis said he is convinced God is calling his peers — older Catholics — to become “artisans of the revolution of tenderness.”

Pope John Paul I’s time as pope, although brief, remains an important example of the beauty and simplicity of faith, Pope Francis said.