Social media are anti-social, anti-human and anti-Christian when they are used to increase differences, fuel suspicion, spread lies and vent prejudice, Pope Francis said in his message for World Communications Day.

To pray well, people need to have the heart of a child – a child who feels safe and loved in a father’s tender embrace, Pope Francis said. If people have become estranged from God, feel lonely, abandoned or have realized their mistakes and are paralyzed by guilt, “we can still find the strength to pray” by starting with the word, “Father,” pronounced with the tenderness of a child, he said. No matter what problems or feelings a person is experiencing or the mistakes someone has made, God “will not hide his face. He will not close himself up in silence. Say, ‘Father,’ and he will answer,’” the pope said Jan. 16 during his weekly general audience.

God is a father who never ignores his children when they call to him in times of suffering, loneliness and despair, Pope Francis said. Although at times it seems that “so many of our prayers seem to have no result,” Christians are called by Christ to “insist and not give up,” the pope said Jan. 9 during his weekly general audience. “Prayer, prayer always changes reality, let us not forget that: It either changes things or changes our hearts, but it always changes,” he said. Arriving at the Paul VI audience hall, the pope greeted thousands of cheerful pilgrims, shaking hands, embracing children and even taking a sip of mate tea offered to him by a pilgrim.

Christians are not better than other people, but they do know that God is their father and they are called “to reflect a ray of his goodness in this world thirsting for goodness, waiting for good news,” Pope Francis said. Leading his first general audience of 2019, the pope continued a series of talks about the Lord’s Prayer. Pope Francis explained how the Gospel of Matthew presents the Lord’s Prayer as part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which also includes the eight Beatitudes.

No one should be afraid to turn to God with prayer, especially in times of great doubt, suffering and need, Pope Francis said. Jesus does not want people to become numb to life’s problems and “extinguish” those things that make them human when they pray, the pope said Dec. 12 during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI audience hall.

Jesus’ way of praying to his father throughout his life is a reminder for Christians that prayer is more than asking God for something but is a way of establishing an intimate relationship with him, Pope Francis said.

Every heart enslaved by false idols and evil desires needs a “transplant” with a heart filled with love, joy, goodness, hope and generosity, Pope Francis said.

God handed down his commandments not for people to hypocritically follow the letter of the law with a proud and righteous heart, but for people to recognize the truth of their weaknesses and acknowledge their need for help, healing and salvation, Pope Francis said.

Lying or being inauthentic is seriously wrong because it hinders or harms human relationships, Pope Francis said. “Where there are lies, there is no love, one cannot have love,” he said Nov. 14 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Life is for loving, not amassing possessions, Pope Francis said. In fact, the true meaning and purpose of wealth is to use it to lovingly serve others and promote human dignity, he said Nov. 7 during his weekly general audience.

The Sixth Commandment’s mandate against adultery is a call to fidelity that applies not only to married couples, but to all Christians called to love others through their vocation, Pope Francis said.

Every heart longs for unconditional love and fidelity, Pope Francis said. “Christ reveals authentic love,” the pope said Oct. 24 during his weekly general audience. “He is the faithful friend who welcomes us even when we make mistakes, and he always wants what is best for us, even when we don’t deserve it,” he said.

Hurling insults and being indifferent to other people’s lives is the first step along the winding path that leads to killing them, at least figuratively, Pope Francis said. By warning that “whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment,” Jesus equates hatred with murder, the pope said Oct. 17 during his weekly general audience. “Indifference kills. It’s like telling someone, ‘You’re dead to me,’ because you’ve killed them in your heart. Not loving is the first step to killing; and not killing is the first step to loving,” he told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. Continuing his series of talks on the Ten Commandments, the pope reflected on Christ’s explanation of the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift,” Jesus said according to St. Matthew’s Gospel. Although Christians should have “an attitude of reconciliation with people who we have had problems with,” Pope Francis said that sometimes, even while waiting for Mass to begin, “we gossip a bit and speak bad about others.”

Procuring an abortion is wrong, inhumane and like hiring a hit man “to fix a problem,” Pope Francis said. It is a contradiction to allow for killing a human life in a mother’s womb “in the name of protecting other rights,” he said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 10. “How can an act that suppresses the innocent and defenseless budding life be therapeutic, civilized or simply humane?” he asked the more than 26,000 people present. “Is it right to snuff out a human life to solve a problem?” he asked, until the crowd shouted loudly, “No.” “Is it right to hire a hit man to solve a problem? No, you can’t. It’s not right to take out a human being, a small one, too, in order to fix a problem. It is like hiring a professional killer,” he said.

Setting the stage for a monthlong gathering of bishops, Pope Francis urged synod fathers not to be crushed by “prophets of doom,” but to be the signs of hope and joy for which today’s young people yearn. “Anointed by hope, let us begin a new ecclesial meeting,” he said in his homily at Mass Oct. 3, opening the Synod of Bishops, which was to meet until Oct. 28 to discuss “young people, the faith and vocational discernment.” Filled with hope and faith, he said, the synod members can “broaden our horizons, expand our hearts and transform those frames of mind that today paralyze, separate and alienate us from young people, leaving them exposed to stormy seas, orphans without a faith community that should sustain them, orphans devoid of a sense of direction and meaning in life.”

During times of freedom or persecution, the Gospel is needed to bring meaning, fullness and hope to life, Pope Francis said. Speaking about his Sept. 22-25 visit to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the pope said he visited these Baltic nations as they celebrated the 100th anniversary of their declarations of independence.

Honoring mothers and fathers means being grateful for the gift of life and Christians should never insult anyone’s parents, Pope Francis said.

Only true love for God and neighbor can destroy the chains of greed, lust, anger and envy that enslave humankind, Pope Francis said. “True love is true freedom: It detaches from possession, rebuilds relationships, it knows how to welcome and value the neighbor, it transforms every struggle into a joyous gift and makes communion possible,” the pope said Sept. 12 during his weekly general audience.

People need to make peace with their lives and anything they are running from, rather than lose themselves to escapism and playful distraction, Pope Francis said.

While the faith of Catholics in Ireland is strong, the scandal of abuse and cover-up by church leaders has caused a decline in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, Pope Francis said.