ROME -- Pope Francis "is a man who has a great empathy. He's a man who understands that part of his Christianity is to reach out and forgive," U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters in Rome Oct. 31.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis and U.S. President Joe Biden had an unusually long meeting at the Vatican Oct. 29, talking about the climate crisis and poverty, among other issues.

Pope Francis has accepted an invitation by Canada’s bishops to visit Canada “on a pilgrimage of healing and reconciliation.”

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis named Msgr. Diego Giovanni Ravelli, who has served as an official of the papal almoner's office since 2013, as the new master of papal liturgical ceremonies, the Vatican said.

VATICAN CITY -- People should ask themselves whether their faith has become a "commercial relationship" with God or if it is a relationship built on freedom, love and generosity, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis will not be going to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, as he had hoped.

VATICAN CITY -- High-level representatives of the world’s religions came together with Pope Francis at the Vatican to show their joint commitment to caring for the Earth and to appeal to world leaders to deepen their commitments to mitigating climate change.

VATICAN CITY -- The Catholic Church's inability to make victims of abuse their top concern is a cause for intense shame, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- The Catholic Church suffers from a temptation to attempt to return to attitudes and practices of the past, an attitude that blocks pastoral outreach to many of those who are marginalized, Pope Francis told Jesuits in Slovakia.

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM SLOVAKIA (CNS) -- The debate about denying Communion to politicians who support abortion must be handled in a pastoral way, not by public condemnations that seek to "excommunicate" Catholics who are not in line with church teaching, Pope Francis said.

KOŠICE, Slovakia (CNS) -- Pope Francis made sure that while the world often disregards the young and the marginalized, in the Catholic Church, "no one ought ever to feel out of place or set aside."

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- The violence of the Holocaust and the atrocities committed against the Jewish people are tantamount to blasphemy, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Religious leaders must courageously cooperate in supporting each other in opposing hatred and promoting peace, Pope Francis said.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Slovakia's tradition of hospitality along with its witness of faith amid persecution must be at the forefront of government policies and the Catholic Church's engagement with the faithful, Pope Francis said.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Hundreds of men, women and children gathered on the tarmac of Bratislava international airport Sept. 12 to welcome Pope Francis for a visit of less than 72 hours.