Pope Francis met on Wednesday with English Cardinal Vincent Nichols and four Muslim leaders from Britain who came to highlight the deep-rooted interfaith relations among the different religious communities in the UK today.

For the past three decades, Nichols and other Catholic leaders have been working to develop strong ties with local Muslim communities. Among some of the practical, grass roots initiatives that have resulted are the setting up of shared food banks for the needy and the welcoming of newly arrived refugee families…

Pope Francis’ prayer intention for April is dedicated to Youth: ‘For young people, that they might know how to respond generously to the vocation God has given them, and immerse themselves in the great causes of the world.’

The Apostleship of Prayer has produced the Pope’s Video on this prayer intention.

The full text of the Pope’s Video is below:

I know that you, young people, don’t want to be duped by a false freedom, always at the beck and call of momentary fashions and fads…

Pope Francis told a Vienna “Trafficking in Persons” conference on Monday it is time to put an end to the “worsening tragedy” of child trafficking and slavery.

The Pope’s words came in a message read out by Fr. Michael Czerny, SJ, Under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)’s “17th Alliance against Trafficking in Persons Conference,” taking place in Vienna…