NATION/WORLD

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Gospel calls Christians to bring the elderly to the center of their lives and away from the margins of families, politics and financial markets that banish them as "unprofitable waste" in society, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis' special envoy went to Washington to explore what the Vatican's role could be in bringing about an end of hostilities in Ukraine, said the president of the U.S. bishops' conference.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Even if the fruits are not immediately visible, Christians are called to sow seeds of faith in the world and people around them in their daily lives, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Only by shedding feelings of personal greatness and regaining a sense of wonder in God's love can people welcome Jesus into their hearts and lives, Pope Francis said. With some 15,000 visitors gathered to pray the Angelus in St. Peter's Square July 9, the pope reflected on the day's Gospel reading from St. Matthew in which Jesus praises God the Father for hiding "things" from the wise and revealing them to the childlike.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals, including U.S.-born Archbishop Robert F. Prevost, who took the helm at the Dicastery for Bishops in April, and French Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Catholics who celebrate the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly July 23 can receive a plenary indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal punishment due for one's sins, the Vatican said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians are called to be modern-day prophets who guide others to see the Holy Spirit at work in everyday life and not to be superstitious people who try to predict or control the future, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Like every saint, St. Peter was not a superhero, he was just a real, imperfect person who generously said, "yes" to Jesus, Pope Francis said. "It appears that it is God who makes Peter strong with his grace, who unites us with his love, and forgives us with his mercy," the pope said June 29.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Under Michelangelo's frescoed ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, Pope Francis told more than 200 musicians, writers, poets and other artists to be like prophets, pursuing true beauty and using their art to shake up the societies where they live.

Jesus says to have no fear of ridicule, persecution or criticism for being faithful to the Gospel, but to be afraid of wasting one's life chasing after trivial things, Pope Francis said.