NATION/WORLD

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.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When receiving the Eucharist, Catholics should respond with gratitude and awe that Jesus offers himself as nourishment and salvation, Pope Francis said. Jesus "becomes true food and true drink," the pope said. "Thank you, Lord Jesus! Let's say, 'Thank you, thank you' with all our heart," he told visitors and pilgrims who joined him in St. Peter's Square Aug. 18 for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God will not judge people by how many university degrees they earned, but by how well they cared for the poor, Pope Francis told a group of priests and religious women. "The Lord won't ask us, 'What did you study?' 'How many degrees do you have?' 'How many works did you accomplish?' No, no. The Lord will say, 'Come with me because I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was persecuted and you protected me,'" the pope said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Prejudices and preconceptions can block people from finding faith, Pope Francis said, even to the point of making them unable to recognize God standing before them. In the Gospel, the Judeans, who were "scandalized" when Jesus told them he came down from heaven, "are obstructed in their faith by their preconception of his humble origins, and they are obstructed by the presumption therefore that they have nothing to learn from him," the pope said before praying the Angelus in St. Peter's Square Aug. 11.

ROME (CNS) -- Whether or not Mary caused snow to fall in Rome on a summer day more than 1,600 years ago, Christians know that God's grace is always undeserved, always beautiful and literally awesome, Pope Francis said. Celebrating the feast of the dedication of Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major and the related feast of Our Lady of the Snows Aug. 5, the pope watched a snowfall of white rose petals fall from the basilica's coffered ceiling.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Every Christian, but especially seminarians, should set aside their screens regularly and spend time with a book of literature or poetry, Pope Francis said. In a world that so often prizes efficiency and accomplishment, "we desperately need to counterbalance this inevitable temptation to a frenetic and uncritical lifestyle by stepping back, slowing down, taking time to look and listen," the pope wrote. "This can happen when a person simply stops to read a book."