NATION/WORLD

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A Christian faith that does not disturb the powers that be and cannot generate a serious commitment to charity becomes an innocuous devotion, Pope Francis said. "Christian hope, fulfilled in Jesus and realized in his kingdom, needs us and our commitment, needs our faith expressed in works of charity, needs Christians who do not look the other way," the pope said Nov. 17, celebrating Mass for the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Mary is a model of the kind of openness to the Holy Spirit that all Christians should have, an openness that allowed her to say "yes" to God's plan for the salvation of the world, Pope Francis said. "Let us learn from her to be docile to the inspirations of the Spirit, especially when he suggests to us to 'arise in haste' and go to help someone who needs us, just as she did immediately after the angel left her," setting out to visit her cousin Elizabeth, the pope said Nov. 13.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Before Pope Francis presides over Mass Nov. 17 for the World Day of the Poor, he will bless 13 keys to represent the 13 new houses he has pledged to pay for in Syria during the Holy Year 2025, the Vatican said. The Famvin Homeless Alliance, a network of religious orders and charitable organizations inspired by St. Vincent de Paul, said the 13 keys also represent the 13 countries where they will build houses for the homeless. The countries are: Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chile, Costa Rica, Italy, Tonga, Senegal, Syria, Tanzania, United Kingdom and Ukraine.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The guiding principle of love extolled by Jesus cuts through confusion around how to uphold God's commandments to humanity, Pope Francis said.Reflecting Nov. 3 on the day's Gospel reading from St. Mark in which Jesus responds to the question, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" the pope said, "Jesus gives us the answer, putting together two commandments that are the primary ones: the love of God and the love of neighbor." "This is the heart of our faith," he said before praying the Angelus with visitors in St. Peter's Square. "Jesus tells us that the source of everything is love, that we must never separate God from man."

ROME (CNS) -- Pope Francis prayed at the graves of children and of miscarried babies on the feast of All Souls before concelebrating Mass with several hundred mourners. The pope traveled Nov. 2 to Rome's Laurentino cemetery, which has a special section for children who have died and, nearby, a section called the "Garden of the Angels" where parents who have experienced a miscarriage can opt to have their children buried rather than having a hospital dispose of the remains.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A world that has become "heartless" and indifferent to greed and war, and a Catholic Church in need of revitalizing its missionary joy need to open themselves up to Christ's infinite love, Pope Francis wrote. By contemplating Jesus' Sacred Heart, the faithful can be filled with the "living water that can heal the hurt we have caused, strengthen our ability to love and serve others, and inspire us to journey together toward a just, solidary and fraternal world," the pope wrote in his encyclical, "'Dilexit nos' ('He loved us'): on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called on the faithful to yearn to serve, not thirst for power, as he proclaimed 14 new saints, including Canada-born St. Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family, and 11 martyrs. "Those who dominate do not win, only those who serve out of love," he said Oct. 20. "When we learn to serve, our every gesture of attention and care, every expression of tenderness, every work of mercy becomes a reflection of God's love," he said. "And so, we continue Jesus' work in the world."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis met a former prime minister of Israel and a former Palestinian foreign minister who believe they have a workable peace plan for the Holy Land. Ehud Olmert, who served as the Israeli prime minister from 2006 to 2009, and Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian foreign minister from 2005 to 2006, met Pope Francis Oct. 17 in the library of the Apostolic Palace.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The celebration of World Mission Sunday is a popular day for a pope to canonize new saints -- not only those who ministered or gave up their lives in lands traditionally known as mission territories, but women and men from every walk of life and from around the world. The 2024 celebration of World Mission Sunday Oct. 20 will be no different. Pope Francis is scheduled to declare saints: Blessed Giuseppe Allamano, founder of the Consolata Missionaries; eight Franciscan friars and three Maronite laymen who were martyred in Syria in 1860; Canada-born Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family; and Blessed Elena Guerra, an Italian nun who founded the Oblates of the Holy Spirit.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Most people claim they want unity, but usually they mean they want others to unite around their own point of view, which gives rise to conflict, Pope Francis said. "We all want unity, we all desire it from the depths of our heart," the pope said, "and yet it is so difficult to attain that even within marriage and the family union and concord are among the most difficult things to achieve and even harder to maintain."