Pope Francis bade farewell on July 31 to an estimated 1.6 million young people from 187 countries in Krakow, Poland, for World Youth Day. In his homily at the festival Mass, he challenged them “to have the courage to be more powerful than evil by loving everyone, even our enemies.”Franci
Gerard O’Connell
Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.
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Is the Holy See reaching a breakthrough with Beijing?
Cardinal Tong seeks to respond to those who wonder whether an agreement between the Holy See and Beijing “may be going against the principles of the church.”
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Vatican announces commission on women deacons
The commission includes six women among its twelve members, including Phyllis Zagano, who has written widely on the subject of women deacons.
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How Pope Francis made missionaries of three Argentinian teens at World Youth Day
“I feel the desire to go on mission and ‘shake things up’ (Hagan lio!), as Francis told us.”
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On plane back to Rome, Francis says, “To identify Islam with violence is not true.”
The pope also addresses problems in Turkey and Venezuela, and allegations against Cardinal Pell.
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Francis closes World Youth Day, telling crowd to take courage and “aim higher.”
After the homily centered on the story of Zacchaeus, the pope announced the next W.Y.D. in Panama in 2019.
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Happiness is not a warm sofa, Francis tells World Youth Day audience
“God expects something from you,” the pope says at a prayer vigil of 1.6 million in Krakow.
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Pope Francis prays for the elimination of the “sore of terrorism.”
In Krakow, the pope honors two Polish priests killed by the Shining Path terrorist group in Peru.
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Pope Francis urges Polish clergy to renew itself
Celebrating Mass in Krakow, the pope says, “Jesus wants his to be a church on the move.”
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Pope Francis: Unless Christians ‘live to serve, their lives serve no good purpose.’
At the World Youth Day celebration, Francis tells young people to imitate Christ through the 14 works of mercy.