“Here democracy was born,” Pope Francis said. “Yet we cannot avoid noting with concern how today — and not only in Europe — we are witnessing a retreat from democracy.”

“Let us not become paralyzed by fear of openness or bold gestures or give in to talk of ‘irreconcilable differences’ that, in fact, have nothing to do with the Gospel!”

“The European continent needs reconciliation and unity; it needs courage and enthusiasm, if it is to move forward. For it will not be the walls of fear and the vetoes dictated by nationalist interests that ensure its progress.”

The pope sees his visit here as another way to get people in Europe and elsewhere to understand that the greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II requires a global solution.

“It seemed to me, right from the beginning, that Francis’ style of pontificate was like a punch in the stomach from the Holy Spirit to wake us up,” Cardinal Angelo Scola says in this exclusive interview.

“Blessed is the bishop who makes poverty and sharing his lifestyle because with his witness he is building the kingdom of heaven.”

Pope Francis to young people: “You have been entrusted with an exciting but also challenging task: to stand tall while everything around us seems to be collapsing; to be sentinels prepared to see the light...to be builders amid the many ruins of today’s world; to be capable of dreaming.”

The Vatican issued a statement insisting that it is “absolutely necessary to reactivate direct dialogue” between Israelis and Palestinians “to achieve a two-state solution.”

Meeting at the Vatican with Pope Francis, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended an invitation to Francis to become the third pope in history to visit India.

Pope Francis and President Joe Biden talked together in private for 75 minutes, an unusually long time by Vatican standards, a sign that the two leaders had a more in-depth discussion than observers had expected.