Pope Francis on Thursday 21st May 2015 encouraged Italy’s police officers to take action against violent and corrupt individuals, saying the country needs people to serve it with altruism, generosity and continuity.  He praised the police officers for their help in welcoming migrants landing on the nation’s shores and in counteracting the “unscrupulous human traffickers” and said their job is an important and noble mission of service to the entire community that sometimes can lead to the sacrifice of their own lives…

This week a major international conference titled: “The new climate economy, exploring how economic growth and sustainability can go hand-in-hand” was held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Santa Croce) in Rome.  The conference was held under the joint sponsorship of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Holy See, with the cooperation of the World Resources Institute and the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate…

Saying he was giving them a “mission,”  Pope Francis has asked religious sisters from Bethlehem and the Middle East to pray for peace in the region and for two new Palestinian saints. 19th century Sister Miriam of Jesus Crucified Baouardy and Sister Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas were canonized in a big outdoor Mass presided by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s square on Sunday. Many of the Carmelite and Rosary sisters who had attended the canonization had flown into Rome from Jordan – on the same plane as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who was also present as the two Palestinian religious were made saints.   In receiving the visiting nuns in the Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace Monday, Pope Francis said the president had told him the flight was “full of sisters!”  “Poor pilot,” the Pope chuckled…