With the children seated around him in the atrium of the Vatican audience hall, Pope Francis answered their questions about his childhood, his school, his vocation and the standard question children ask him, "How did you feel when you were chosen pope?"

“I hope to share ‘best practices’ from parishes that have successfully reached out to the L.G.B.T. Catholic community,” Father Martin told America.

Bishop Barros has been at the center of Chile's growing scandal ever since Francis appointed him bishop of Osorno in 2015 over the objections of the local faithful, his own sex abuse prevention advisers and some of Chile's other bishops.

Pope Francis and Vatican diplomats have followed with growing concern the grave tensions and even threats of nuclear attacks that have been exchanged between the United States and North Korea.

Pope Francis said the challenge is “to find ways of ensuring the immense supply of energy required to meet the needs of all, while developing means of using natural resources that avoid creating environmental imbalances.”

Celebrating Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae June 8, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pope Francis spoke about the boundless love of Christ, "which surpasses knowledge."