NATION/WORLD

Lengthy, abstract homilies are "a disaster," so preaching should be limited to 10 minutes, Pope Francis said.

As the Biden administration and state governments look at ways to expand or restrict access to abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling, Pope Francis prayed that God would strengthen people's commitment to protecting human life at every stage.

While the Second Vatican Council gave the Catholic Church a "beautiful" document on the priesthood, "it did not face the fundamental question" of the difference between Catholic and Protestant understandings of ordained ministry, wrote Pope Benedict XVI in an essay published after his death.

Many Christians who died for the faith did so, not because they were denied the freedom to worship, but because they were living out their faith and defending freedom, justice and truth, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis told young people to always "look to the horizon" and open their hearts to other peoples and cultures.

Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of a Spanish poet-priest who was a member of the Spanish Royal Academy.

The archbishop of Paris has banned French Msgr. Tony Anatrella, a longtime Vatican consultant on issues of sexuality, from all public ministry and ordered him to a life of prayer after a Vatican investigation into allegations he sexually abused young men he was counseling.

Pope Francis' fifth trip to the African continent will highlight gestures of peace and reconciliation, consoling the victims of violence but also emphasizing the importance of each person sowing peace in the family, the neighborhood and the nation.

Christians must develop a pastoral heart to care for those who have not heard the Gospel or who have left the fold, Pope Francis said.

The call to faith in Jesus always is a call to service and mission, Pope Francis told seminarians, priests and staff of the Pontifical North American College.