Pope Francis

Pope Francis urged world leaders on Thursday to divert funds used for armaments to confront problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure vaccines reach the poor and most vulnerable nations.

A bust of Pope Francis, made by sculptor Darie Dup, will be unveiled next Tuesday on Schitu Magureanu Boulevard in Bucharest.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke with Pope Francis about the global challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic and invited him to visit Greece when corcumstances allow it, his office said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban welcomed on Saturday, at the 90 Otopeni Air Base, the Romanian doctors and nurses who returned from the mission to Italy, whom he thanked and conveyed his respect and appreciation for the solidarity proven with the medical staff and patients from Italy, in the fight against COVID-19.

Only by entering the light of Resurrection we, too, will be able to bring hope and joy in our families and the world we live in, Cardinal Lucian, Major Archbishop of the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic, says in the Pastoral letter sent to the clergy and believers on the feast of the Holy Easter. The Greek-Catholic believers are celebrating Easter on Sunday, 19 April.

 A visibly indignant Pope Francis had to pull himself away from a woman in a crowd in St Peter's Square on Dec. 31 after she grabbed his hand and yanked him toward her.

Pope Francis was walking through the square in Vatican City and greeting pilgrims on his way to see the large Nativity scene set up in the huge, cobbled esplanade.

Pope Francis called for the closing of migrant detention camps in Libya on Thursday, saying they were rife with torture and slavery.
Francis, who has made defence of migrants and refugees a key part of his pontificate, made his comments in to a group of refugees, including women and children, brought to Italy by the Vatican from a transit camp on the Greek island of Lesvos.

Pope Francis arrived for his four-day visit to Japan, expected to make a call for nuclear disarmament tomorrow, BTA reported.

The Thai Airways plane with the Pope, accompanied by a Vatican delegation and journalists, arrived in Tokyo after a six-hour flight from Bangkok.

Pope Francis departed from Rome to Thailand tonight. His 32nd trip abroad will then take him to Japan, according to France Press.

The first Jesuit pope will visit two countries where Christianity was introduced by Jesuit missionaries in the mid-16th century.

Pope Francis received Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias at the Vatican on Wednesday.

Dendias also met with substitute for the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, and the current secretary for relations with states within the Holy See's Secretariat of State, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.