Pope Francis has sent a message – through his Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin – to the II Catholic Social Days for Europe, currently underway in Madrid.

The message states that “one of the great challenges for the Church in Europe is to find effective ways to bring the light of the Gospel to bear upon the pressing issues which affect the continent”, which include teh plague of youth unemployment and rising tides of popularism…

Pope Francis encouraged Catholics go forth and bring the Gospel message to the world and to their communities.

Speaking on Wednesday during his General Audience the Pope spoke of the universal and apostolic nature of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis explained that the word catholic means that she is universal, something that she shows by speaking all languages, which – he said – is the effect of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit gave to the Apostles and the whole Church the gift of proclaiming the Good News of God’s salvation and love to all, even to the ends of the earth…

Pope Francis has asked people to accompany his visit to Albania this Sunday with prayer.  Speaking at the end of his General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father said:

“Next Sunday, with God’s help, I will go in Albania. I decided to visit this country because it has suffered so much because of a terrible atheist regime and is now realizing peaceful coexistence among its various religious components”…

At a briefing today, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, announced details of Pope Francis’ first Apostolic Voyage in Europe.

Pope Francis’ journey to Albania will be his fourth international voyage, and the first to European country outside of Italy.

Father Lombardi said one of the main reasons for the Pope’s visit was to honour the martyrs for the faith who lived in Albania, the victims of atheistic Communism…

The European Conference of Justice & Peace Commissions will meet from the 3rd to the 7th of October in Athens and Corinth for their annual International Workshop and General Assembly. The general theme of the meeting is “Human Dignity and Economic Crisis”. During the General Assembly, Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich from Luxemburg will take over from Bishop William Kenney, auxiliary bishop from Birmingham, as President of Justice and Peace Europe.  22 of the 30 European JP commissions will be represented in Athens…

To the simple strains of a harp, twenty grooms made their way up the central nave of St Peter’s Basilica with their mothers, followed by twenty brides dressed in white accompanied by their fathers.

All of the couples were from the diocese of Rome and had come to be married, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, by the Pope himself…

Turkish President Recep Tayyp Erdogan has issued an official invitation to Pope Francis to visit his country. Speaking to journalists on Friday, the head of the Vatican press office, Fr Federico Lombardi said the Holy See had received the invitation and was preparing for a papal visit to Turkey at the end of November. He added that the duration of the trip and the programme for the visit were still to be confirmed…