Cindy Wooden

Meeting leaders of the Afghan community in Italy, Pope Francis condemned violence and discrimination based on religion and later asked people to pray for an end to discrimination in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, particularly discrimination against women.

In a letter "On the Role of Literature in Formation," published by the Vatican Aug. 4, Pope Francis said he initially intended to write a letter on how important it is for seminarians to devote time to reading novels and poetry but decided to expand it because reading is important for "the formation of all those engaged in pastoral work, indeed of all Christians."

"Attacks, even targeted ones, and killings can never be a solution," the pope told thousands of people gathered in the midday heat to pray with him. The pope's remarks came after the killing July 31 of a top Hamas leader in Iran — a killing widely attributed to Israel. Attacks and killings, the pope said, never promote "the path of justice, the path of peace, but generate even more hatred and revenge."

Celebrating the vigil of Pentecost in Verona, Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit sows peace by creating diversity, blessing it and harmonizing it for the good of all.

Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said he will host Pope Francis in 2025 and they will go together to Iznik, Turkey, to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

The shooting of Slovakia's prime minister and the intensified Russian attacks on northeastern Ukraine are signs of a generalized increase in violence and a lack of a real commitment to dialogue and peace, said the Vatican secretary of state.

Pilgrims passing through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica during the Holy Year 2025, going to confession, receiving Communion and praying for the intentions of the pope can receive an indulgence, but so can inmates in prison and those who work to defend human life or assist migrants and refugees.

"Tradition is living" and not stagnant, Pope Francis wrote, and it must continually shape and take root in every part of the world and in every culture. 

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith will publish its new norms for the discernment of apparitions and other supernatural phenomena May 17, the Vatican press office said.

The spiritual practice of reparation "may be somewhat forgotten or wrongly judged obsolete" today, but it is essential for the promotion of justice and healing, including on behalf of those who have suffered abuse in the church, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis signed a letter on synodality in the presence of parish priests and urged them to be "missionaries of synodality," said several of the priests present.

"Tradition comes alive in the art of creatively transmitting the messages entrusted to us. We must transmit them in new translations into a living, intelligible language," Father Tomáš Halík, a Czech theologian, told the priests. "To be faithful to tradition is not to be resistant to change."

The Vatican April 26 confirmed that Pope Francis will join a G7 discussion on artificial intelligence in mid-June. 

The reform projects launched by Pope Francis — reforming not just institutions like the Roman Curia, but attitudes and pastoral approaches — will not be reversed, even though some may take different forms in the future, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

While the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance are the marks of a righteous individual, the virtues of faith, hope and love emphasize a connection to other people fueled by belief in God and reliance on prayer, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis met briefly with Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco Systems — the U.S. digital communications conglomerate — after Robbins signed on to the "Rome Call for AI Ethics," a project coordinated by the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Peace can spread and grow from "small seeds" like including someone who is left out of an activity, showing concern for someone who is struggling, picking up some litter and praying for God's help, Pope Francis told Italian schoolchildren.

Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals continued their discussions about the role of women in the church, listening to women experts, including a professor who spoke about how culture impacts women's roles and status.

The morning after Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel, Pope Francis pleaded with nations to avoid a further escalation of the violence.

Pope Francis took over the catechism classes at St. John Vianney parish on the far eastern edge of Rome to inaugurate his "School of Prayer." The pope went, unannounced, to the parish after school April 11 and met with about 200 children, Vatican News reported.