Pope Francis on Sunday made a heartfelt appeal for the people of Syria, telling the faithful gathered for the Angelus in St Peter’s Square that there were still the winds of war in the country and “unsettling news about the risk of a possible humanitarian catastrophe in the Province of Idlib.

The Pope invited the international community and other actors involved “to make use of the instruments of diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations, in compliance with the international humanitarian law and to safeguard the lives of civilians.”

The Syrian province of Idlib and surrounding areas are the last major enclave held by rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad…

Several years ago, Pope Francis instituted September 1 in the Catholic Church as the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.” Last year Pope Francis reminded Roman Catholics about the day by saying; “we will celebrate the Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, together with our Orthodox brothers and other churches. It will be an occasion to reinforce our common efforts to protect life, respecting the environment and nature.” When he established the annual celebration Pope Francis said, “Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.”

Among Pope Francis’ chief influences was St Francis of Assisi, as is evident in his encyclical entitled, Laudato si’, which takes its name from the well-known “Canticle of the Sun” written by St Francis…

To observe the Season of Creation and at the vigil of the Assisi Ecumenical Prayer for Creation entitled “Walking together to COP24” (31st August – 1St September 2018) the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) are calling Christians and their communities to pray and care for creation…

As the plight of Venezuelans worsens, and neighboring countries crack down on those trying to flee, Catholic leaders in the region are calling for solidarity and aid.

“The massive emigration of millions of Venezuelans is a desperate cry of protest of an oppressed, enslaved people, doomed to die,” Archbishop Emeritus Ubaldo Santana of Maracaibo, Venezuela, said on Twitter August 26…

The Skoda cars used during Pope Francis’ trip to Ireland for the World Meeting of the Families are to be given to Irish charities, one aiding the homeless in Dublin and the other a search and rescue charity in Derry.

Two Skoda ‘Rapid’ cars were used to assist the Holy Father during his intensive two-day programme involving different locations in the Archdiocese of Dublin, and separately in the Archdiocese of Tuam…

A recent report in Belgium noted that legal euthanasia there has claimed the lives of three children in the past two years. The response in Belgium? A big yawn.

“The report of the control commision has provoked not one article in the press, and no comments at all,” said Willem Lemmens, Professor of Modern Philosophy and Ethics at the University of Antwerp…

“I have found so much faith in Ireland,” Pope Francis said at the end of his two-day visit to the land of Saints and Scholars. “The Irish have suffered so much from the scandals, but they know how to distinguish the truth from half-truths,” he said, reciting the words spoken to him by an unnamed Bishop a few hours earlier…