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U.S. President Barack Obama, Cuban President Raul Castro and the Vatican have called for a lifting of the embargo, which was first put in place in 1960 and repeatedly strengthened in the years since.

Not only will Pope Francis be the first pope to visit the U.S. Congress, but papal speeches to parliaments of any single nation are extremely rare.

The complete list of synod participants and papal appointees was released Sept. 15 by the Vatican.

“The people of California—especially the poor, the elderly, minorities and the disabled—deserve much better from their leaders,” the archbishop said. “And make no mistake, it will be these most vulnerable populations who are going to suffer from this legislation.”

A pope needs friends, needs mercy and needs to reach out to all people, Pope Francis said in two radio interviews released in mid-September.

Fundamentalism in any religion ‘is a transversal darkness which robs us of an horizon.’

“We have told the story of the missions in a way that has shown them as harmonious. In reality, conquest does not work that way,” said Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Edward W. Clark. “We see weakness in our curriculum on the mission era. We want to strengthen that.”

The European Union must adopt a common asylum policy “without delay” because it is unacceptable for refugees to “drown and suffocate” at the fringes of the bloc, said the European bishops.

The Obama administration announced that it would seek to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees during the next fiscal year–a significant increase from the 1,293 admitted in fiscal 2015, but far short of the number other nations have pledged to accept.

Asked what he might ask Pope Francis were he to be a guest on his new show, Colbert replied, “I would ask him about how love leads him to joy, or does love lead him to joy?”