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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Exchanging Christmas gifts and organizing holiday parties are all well and good, but Christians should contemplate the scene of Jesus' birth to recover what is truly important during the Christmas season, Pope Francis said. At his weekly general audience Dec. 20, just five days before Christmas, the pope told people that "the risk of losing what matters in life is great, and paradoxically increases at Christmas."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis appealed for perseverance in praying for peace, especially in the Holy Land where the conflict is no longer "warfare," but has become "terrorism." "Please, let's move toward peace. Pray for peace," the pope said. "May the Lord help us to not keep going to the point of killing everyone. "At the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square Nov. 22, the pope reminded everyone "not to forget to persevere in prayer for those who are suffering because of wars in so many parts of the world, especially for the dear people of Ukraine, martyred Ukraine, and Israel and Palestine."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- "War is a defeat," Pope Francis insisted as he called for prayers for peace in Israel and Palestine. Speaking to thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square Oct. 8 for the recitation of the Angelus prayer, the pope said he is following events in Israel and Gaza "with apprehension and sorrow." A day earlier, militants in Gaza launched a massive attack on southern Israel, firing rockets and breaching the border.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Peering just over the windowsill of Pope Francis' studio above St. Peter's Square, five children aged 7-10 joined the pope to announce a special gathering of children at the Vatican in November. "As you can see, beside me today are five children who represent the five continents," Pope Francis said Oct. 1 after reciting the Angelus. "I would like to announce along with them that on the afternoon of Nov. 6, in the Paul VI Hall, I will meet with children from all over the world."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians must stand firm in their faith but that is not the same as being rigid and unwilling to bend out of compassion for another, Pope Francis said. God is love and "the one who loves does not remain rigid. Yes, they stand firm, but not rigid; they do not remain rigid in their own positions, but allow themselves to be moved and touched," the pope said Aug. 20 before reciting the midday Angelus prayer with an estimated 10,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square.

LISBON, Portugal (CNS) -- To end "Catholic Woodstock" -- as World Youth Day has been called by the Portuguese press -- Pope Francis told 1.5 million weary-eyed and sleep-deprived young people in Lisbon not to let their "great dreams" of changing the world be "stopped by fear."

LISBON, Portugal (CNS) -- Arriving at the edge of the European continent for World Youth Day, Pope Francis urged Portuguese officials to return to their maritime roots by setting sail toward new horizons of hope and helping build a Europe "capable of recovering its youthful heart." "It is my hope that World Youth Day may be, for the 'Old Continent,' we can say the elderly continent" -- he ad-libbed with a smile -- "an impulse toward universal openness."

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.

The Catholic Church's current Synod of Bishops should not be a "parliament for demanding rights," but a "journey in accordance with the Spirit," Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis called the migration crisis between Mexico and the United States a "serious problem" and praised a U.S. bishop working along the border during an interview with Telemundo journalist Julio Vaqueiro.