Pope Francis will travel to Assisi Oct. 3 to sign an encyclical on the social, political and economic obligations that flow from a belief that all people are children of God and therefore brothers and sisters to one another.

Courses at the pontifical universities begin in October, but seminarians will only begin to explore Rome once their quarantine has ended.

Pope Francis has asked Catholics and all people of goodwill to observe Sept. 4 as a day of prayer and fasting for Lebanon.

Christ’s cross is a powerful symbol of God’s love for humanity and not just a decoration or trinket, Pope Francis said.

Astronomers construct and play with a variety of mathematical models, and one popular model looks at how likely it is that civilizations on different planets could end up contacting each other. Scientists have proposed various simulations and predictions, and now a Jesuit astronomer and former director of the Vatican Observatory has co-authored a study offering a new set of results.

“Christian charity is not simple philanthropy but, on the one hand, it is looking at others through the eyes of Jesus himself and, on the other hand, seeing Jesus in the face of the poor,” the pope said.

Given the many criminal organizations and gangs worldwide that have distorted the true role and image of Mary, a pontifical academy has unveiled a new department dedicated to fighting “this deviant spirituality.”

Their heads encased in white bandages covering the wounds where they had been conjoined, 2-year-old twins named Ervina and Prefina were baptized by Pope Francis Aug. 6 in the chapel of his residence.

For peace to flourish, weapons of war must be set aside, especially nuclear weapons that can obliterate entire cities and countries, Pope Francis said on the 75th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

Renewing the membership of the Vatican Council for the Economy, Pope Francis named six women to the previously all-male board that oversees the financial operations of all Vatican offices and entities.