Don Johnson, set to be executed May 16 by the state of Tennessee for the brutal 1984 murder of his wife Connie Johnson, has several people in his corner advocating clemency for him.

"In that Caritas center are many Christians who have learned to see with God's own eyes," Pope Francis said. "God is not worried about details but seeks out and awaits each person with a father's eyes."

Like Saint Francis, the pope said, “each of us is called to follow in his footsteps by becoming a peacemaker, an ‘artisan’ of peace.”

For celibate priests, there are three specific and essential elements of formation for sustaining their commitment: They need a meaningful reason for celibacy, they need skills for celibate living, and they need a supportive community.

Even as pope, Francis considers himself a parish priest—“the world’s parish priest” as he once told a friend. This morning, he presided in a small Catholic enclave more than 100 miles from Sofia, the capital city.

The meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Neofit was only the second meeting in more than a thousand years between a pope and a Bulgarian Orthodox patriarch.