Pope Francis on Saturday 25th March, he greeted the Rom, Islamic, and immigrant families of the ‘White Houses’ in the Forlanini quarter of Milan at the beginning of his one-day pastoral visit to the city.

Upon his arrival, residents gave the Holy Father two gifts: a priestly stole and a picture of a statuette of the Madonna…

One of the highlights of Pope Francis’ 1-day pastoral journey to the Italian city of Milan is his visit to the city’s main detention center, the San Vittore Prison.

Shortly after midday and the recitation of the Angelus, the Pope travelled to the prison where he was welcomed by the director,Gloria Manzelli, and by the prison chaplain, don Marco Recalcati…

Pope Francis on Sunday during the Angelus in a sunny St Peter’s Square took inspiration from the Gospel reading in which Jesus restores the sight of the blind man.

With this miracle the Holy Father explained, “Jesus reveals himself as light of the world”. Each of us, the Pope said, is blind from birth, in that, “we were created to know God, but because of sin we are like the blind, we need a new light, that of faith, that Jesus has given us.”

In fact, Pope Francis went on to say, “the blind man of the Gospel regaining his vision is opened up to the mystery of Christ.”

This man represents us when we do not realize that Jesus is “the light of the world” and when we look elsewhere when we prefer to rely on small lights when fumbling in the dark,” the Pope said…

In his address to European leaders, Pope Francis spoke about embracing the past, but also looking to the future with hope.

Referring to the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties – the occasion for the meeting – Pope Francis said “Returning to Rome, sixty years later, must not simply be a remembrance of things past, but the expression of a desire to relive that event in order to appreciate its significance for the present.” He said, “We cannot understand our own times apart from the past, seen not as an assemblage of distant facts, but as the lymph that gives life to the present.”

Calling attention to the founding fathers of the European project, whom he quoted repeatedly, the Pope said Europe is not “a conglomeration of rules to obey” but “a way of life, a way of understanding man based on his transcendent and inalienable dignity.” And so, he said, it was clear from the outset “that the heart of the European political project could only be man himself.” But this outlook, he continued, depends on solidarity…