Pope Francis

Pope Francis on Monday assailed the "insatiable greed" of today's consumerism, calling on people in his Christmas homily to make "sharing and giving" more a part of their live, reports AFP. 

"Mankind became greedy and voracious," the leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics said in an address to thousands of followers in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be admitted to the Catholic clergy, and priests who are gay should be celibate or leave rather than lead a double life, Pope Francis said in a new book.

Pope Francis lit a candle at the Vatican on Sunday for victims of conflicts around the world, and in particular the children of war-torn Syria, reported AFP.

"Advent is a time of hope. Right now, my hope is for peace for the children of Syria, tormented by a war that has lasted eight years," he said after the Angelus prayer.

Pope Francis denounced the mafia's "blasphemous" existence on Sept. 15 during a visit to Sicily to honour a priest murdered by the mob 25 years ago while trying to save youngsters in poor neighbourhoods from falling into their hands. 

Pope Francis on Sunday declined to comment on a letter by a former Vatican official that he had ignored sexual abuse claims against US cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was forced to resign last month.

Pope Francis send a message of support to Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos over the deadly wildfires that killed at least 87 people in east Attica and injured more than 100.

Pope Francis is praying for the dozens who died in Greece's wildfires and offering encouragement to firefighters and rescue crews.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, sent a telegram of condolences Tuesday to Greek public and church authorities after at  least 74 were killed in the forest fires near Athens.

Pope Francis said on Saturday that building walls, occupying territories and religious fanaticism would never bring peace to the Middle East.

Pope Francis, who has put the plight of migrants in Europe at the heart of his concerns, said on June 21 it was time "to invest wisely to give them work and education" in their countries of origin, in particular in Africa.

Pope Francis is ready for dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch of Moscow and all the eastern cyrilllic. This statement was made by the Pontiff during a meeting with Metropolitan Ilarion Volokamski and other representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church during a meeting with the head of the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate.