"The pope wants to fix the social injustices in society and I am completely with him on that," Sanders told Italian media.

Having HIV "is purely a medical condition," Loretto Sister Mary Owens said; she wants people to know "how unjust it is to stigmatize people...who are so vulnerable."

The path of nonviolence is a "daunting" task as is "reaching people's very souls" through compassion and dialogue.

Such hardened hearts often were behind the persecution of innocent men and women seeking to follow God's will.

Francis: Just as God derives no pleasure from "the blood of bulls and lambs" slaughtered in his name, he is especially averse to offerings from hands dirty with the blood of another human being.

The paper said it was also a "positive sign" when Michael Sugar, the movie's producer, said he hoped the film would "resonate all the way to the Vatican."

Calling the accusations "without foundation and utterly false," the cardinal "strongly denies any wrongdoing.

Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, Vatican secretary for relations with states, attended the Syria Donors Conference in London Feb. 4 and said the Catholic Church would continue to help the region through its fundraising efforts.

Use the power of communication to build bridges and heal wounds, not generate hatred or misunderstanding, Pope Francis said. The Catholic Church, too, must proclaim the truth and denounce injustice without alienating everyone in need of God's help, he said in his message for World Communica

"He wanted to visit the sanctuary and places where St. Francis, on Christmas Eve in 1223, represented the first living Nativity in history," Bishop Domenico Pompili of Rieti told ANSA, the Italian news agency.