“The gesture by the Holy Father strengthened me and reconciled me with the world,” said Lidia Maksymowicz, 80, a Polish woman of Belorussian descent who survived the concentration camp as a child.

Archbishop Roche has served Pope Francis well under two very different prefects at the congregation for divine worship.

’Prayer is not a magic wand: It is a dialogue with the Lord.’

Pope Francis asked everyone to join a new global grassroots movement to create a more inclusive, fraternal, peaceful and sustainable world.

The Vatican has long justified the costs because its communications operations are at the core of the Holy See’s main mission: to communicate the Catholic faith to all corners of the globe.

While May 24 has been celebrated with prayer for and with the church in China every year since 2008, Francis’ message on Sunday comes at the end of a week in which a number of troubling news reports reached the Vatican.