In Europe the Christian population is dying faster than it is being replaced. In North America, the number of Christian deaths will begin to exceed the number of births to Christian parents by around 2050.
The Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, told America that no official request for an audience had arrived at the Vatican from the U.S. president as of late Wednesday evening, April 19.
Pope Francis will declare the sainthood of Blessed Jacinta Marto and Blessed Francisco Marto, two of the shepherd children who saw Mary in Fatima, Portugal, during his visit to the site of the apparitions May 13.