Addressing the Schonstatt Fathers, who were in Rome for their general chapter Sept. 1, the pope urged them to be “bearers of a message of hope in these dark situations that people in every stage of life are going through.”

The FTC’s newest commission, Omar Bedoya, said that the protection of children is one of the FTC’s policy areas where there is bipartisanship.

This year’s annual Labor Day statement from the U.S. bishops touts two bills awaiting action in Congress as being helpful to children, women and families: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and an expansion of the federal child tax credit.

After a series of deadly clashes erupted in Iraq, Pope Francis said “dialogue and fraternity” were needed to overcome the current situation and to become a nation of diverse communities living in peace.

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who died Aug. 30 in Moscow after a long illness, met several times with St. John Paul II, and the two often exchanged words of appreciation for each other.

Celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Aug. 30 with the College of Cardinals, the pope said this sense of wonder “sets us free from the temptation of thinking that we can ‘manage things.'”

Pope Francis’ comments on the death of Darya Dugina, a 29-year-old commentator with a nationalist Russian TV channel, were meant to defend life and were not a political affirmation, the Vatican said.

Christian humility implies placing one’s desire to maintain appearances or selfish interests aside and instead putting the well-being of others first, said Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of San Diego.

The world will keep witnessing wars, violence and injustice as long as people fail to understand that true freedom comes from seeking God’s will, love and mercy, Pope Francis said.

Becoming a member of the broad, unique body of the College of Cardinals is both a great honor and an invitation to help promote a renewal of the Catholic Church’s mission of evangelization, some new cardinals said.