NATION/WORLD

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Saying Pope Francis had "a mild flu-like condition," the Vatican press office announced he had canceled his scheduled audiences Sept. 23. The 87-year-old pope, the press office said, would be resting as "a precautionary measure" in view of his scheduled trip Sept. 26-29 to Luxembourg and Belgium. The pope had returned to the Vatican late Sept. 13 after a 12-day trip to Asia and the Pacific; early the next morning he met members of a pilgrimage in St. Peter's Basilica and had a full slate of appointments for the next 10 days.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Young people must reject indifference and embrace their role as a generation of hope and unity to build a better future for the world, Pope Francis said. Developing a sense of fraternity is "the best answer we can offer to the conflicts and indifference that kill, because indifference kills," the pope told a meeting of young Catholics from around the Mediterranean.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- To fully experience love and hope, young people must approach the journey of life as pilgrims and not just sightseers seeking the perfect selfie, Pope Francis said. "Do not be like superficial sightseers, blind to the beauty around you, never discovering the meaning of the roads you take, interested only in a few fleeting moments to capture in a selfie. Tourists do this," the pope said in a message to young people ahead of the local celebrations of World Youth Day Nov. 24.

TASITOLU, Timor-Leste (CNS) -- While it is tempting to want more money and more power, God works great things through those who know how to make themselves small, Pope Francis told a massive crowd in one of the world's poorest countries. In a nation of 1.3 million people -- 96% of whom are Catholic -- local authorities estimated 600,000 people gathered for Mass with the pope Sept. 10 at a park in Tasitolu, which is about five miles outside Timor-Leste's capital, Dili. They came from all over Timor-Leste but also from Indonesia.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Simple gestures of piety, such as receiving Communion, sow harmony among humanity and can be acts of rebellion against evil, Pope Francis said. In a video message to the International Eucharistic Congress in Quito, Ecuador, released by the Vatican Sept. 8, the pope highlighted the power of the Eucharist through the story of German Trinitarian Sister Angela Autsch, who was imprisoned by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz where she died in 1944.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While expert scholarship and good stewardship mean the pontifical universities in Rome should be working together, Pope Francis said it is essential that the Pontifical Urbanian University does not lose its centuries-long focus on preparing missionaries from and to the varied cultures of the world. In fact, he said Aug. 30, it is important that the university's "missionary and intercultural specificity be seen even more clearly in the quality of the formation that it offers, so that its graduates can be creative in mediating the Christian message vis-à-vis other cultures and religions."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Earth is ailing, and it needs the prayers of Catholics as well as their personal commitment to caring for creation, Pope Francis said. "Let us pray that each of us listen with our hearts to the cry of the Earth and of the victims of environmental disasters and climate change, making a personal commitment to care for the world we inhabit," the pope said in a video message released Aug. 30 by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Christians spend time with Jesus in adoration or receive him in the Eucharist, they cannot help but spread his love with others, Pope Francis said. "When you have met Christ in adoration, when you have touched him and received him in the Eucharistic celebration, you can no longer keep him to yourself, but you become a missionary of his love to others," the pope wrote in a letter to Bishop Marie Fabien Raharilamboniaina, president of bishops' conference of Madagascar.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Devotions at a Marian shrine in Spain that communicate Mary's "close and affectionate presence" can and should continue, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, dicastery prefect, authorized the local archbishop to issue a document so that the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila can "continue to offer to the faithful who wish to approach it, a place of interior peace, consolation, and conversion."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Knowing that one is loved by God and loving God in return provides a firm foundation for building healthy relationships and healthy communities even in a world that seems dark and threatening, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.