Memory, hope, witness: these are the three key terms in which Pope Francis placed his recent visit to Korea, when he reflected on the trip with pilgrims and tourists gathered in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Wednesday for the weekly General Audience. After renewing his sentiments of gratitude and esteem for the bishops of Korea and for the civil authorities who hosted him, the Holy Father began to focus on the Church he discovered during his voyage…

Pope Francis has learnt of the tragic death of three of his relatives in a traffic accident in Argentina and is “profoundly saddened.”  The Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope had received news of the tragic accident and asks that “all those who share in his grief join with him in prayer.”  The victims were  the wife of the Pope’s nephew and her two young children aged 2 years and eight months.  His nephew, Emanuel Horacio Bergoglio, was seriously injured in the accident…

From the possibility of the unification of the Koreas to the idea of “just war”, from the situation of persecuted minorities in Iraq to the Pope’s upcoming journey to Albania: on the flight back from Korea to Rome, Pope Francis answered questions put to him by journalists travelling with him aboard the papal plane.

In what has become a traditional impromptu press conference aboard the papal plane, journalists spent more than an hour questioning the Pope about his recent visit to Korea for the 6th Asian Youth Day, about issues raised during the journey, his take on the ongoing violence against Christians and other minorities in Iraq, and about plans for future foreign trips…

Pope Francis has just left Seoul on a Korean Airlines flight headed for Rome at the conclusion of his five day visit to the Asian country. The plane is due to land at Ciampino airport just before 6pm, local time, on Monday evening. The Pope’s departure from the Korean capital came after a concluding Mass in Seoul’s Catholic cathedral, during which he challenged Christians to work and pray for peace and reconciliation on the divided peninsula…

Pope Francis has sent a video message to the people of Korea, broadcast on Korean television over the weekend and ahead of his Apostolic journey to Korea.

In the message, the Holy Father begins by inviting the Korean people to pray with him that his upcoming visit will bear fruit for the Church and for Korean society in general…