Prevention is key in protecting minors from abuse, Pope Francis said. The protection of minors is a serious concern and what is needed is “an apostolate of prevention,” he said in a video message to Catholic leaders taking part in a safeguarding course at the Pontifical University of Mexico.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Praying that Catholics would understand and act on “the inseparable bond” between love of God and love of neighbor, Pope Francis again appealed for a solution to the crisis in Venezuela.

To be part of a Christian community is to belong to a group of believers who shun selfishness and give witness to God’s love by loving and caring for one another, Pope Francis said.

When the Holy Spirit speaks to men and women through the word of those who evangelize, it ignites a power strong enough to break down the barriers that divide the human family, Pope Francis said.

Christians recognize life’s great paradox that so much evil and temptation exist in the world, but that God is always present, too, ready to help and give people the strength to persevere, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis told the heads of women’s religious orders from around the world that a Vatican commission did not reach a unanimous conclusion on the issue of whether deaconesses in the early church were “ordained” or “blessed.”

Visiting the small Catholic communities in Bulgaria and North Macedonia offered an opportunity to encourage the faithful to remember God’s miracle of being able to feed a multitude with just a few loaves and fishes, Pope Francis said.

God never tricks, traps or tempts his children to sin or commit evil, Pope Francis said. God is with his people every step of the way – during times of joy and sadness, triumph and tribulation – and he always helps lead people away from the devil and his temptations, the pope said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square May 1, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.

The scales of justice cannot solve everything, especially when it comes to stopping a cycle of evil vengeance, Pope Francis said. “Evil knows revenge and if it is not halted, it risks spreading, suffocating the whole world,” he said April 24 during his weekly general audience.

The glory of God is not manifested with fanfare and applause but displayed through the love of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, Pope Francis said.

Everyone is “in debt” to God, who offers his infinite love and graces for free, Pope Francis said. “We have received so much: our existence, a father and a mother, friendships, the wonders of creation,”  the pope said April 10 during his weekly general audience in a rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis has asked an Italian nun, who has been on the frontlines in the fight against human trafficking, to write this year’s Way of the Cross meditations.

Pope Francis presented the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross to an elderly Italian missionary sister who dedicated her life to caring for mothers as a midwife in Congo, delivering more than 3,000 babies.

Pope Francis’s intention for April: For doctors and their humanitarian collaborators in war zones, who risk their lives to save the lives of others Christians have faith in a God who wants to and is able to transform the world, conquering evil with good, Pope Francis said.

Of the many traditions and penitential practices observed during the season of Lent, one of the more visible is the stark change in church decor and a complete absence of flowers.

Today’s first reading is about as distant from us as anything in the Bible. The focus is on a man named Abram, or Abraham, who grew up in Ur, a city that went out of existence more than 2,000 years ago. The episode features a ceremony practiced by ancient kings, which involved walking between two rows of bloody animal carcasses.

The holiness of God is a power that is constantly expanding and will defeat all evil once and for all, Pope Francis said. “Evil’s days are numbered,” the pope said Feb. 27 during his weekly general audience. “One thing is certain: It is evil that should be afraid, and this is beautiful.”

Prayer is not just a private and intimate dialogue between a person and God, but rather an opportunity for Christians to bring the needs of others before the Lord, Pope Francis said. “There is no room for individualism in the dialogue with God,” the pope said Feb. 13 during his weekly general audience. “There is no display of one’s own problems as if we were the only ones in the world who suffer. There is no prayer raised to God that is not the prayer of a community of brothers and sisters.”

Pope Francis said his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates, while brief, was a new page in relations between Christians and Muslims at a time when conflict and violence threaten the goal of lasting peace.

The joyous harmony of people coming together from so many different nations for World Youth Day stands in sharp contrast to today’s “sad” situation of confrontational nationalist feelings, Pope Francis said.