The church opposes “the ideology that usually accompanies so many sex-change decisions,” which Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández said is an ideology that claims “omnipotence” and refuses to recognize the reality of one’s body as a gift.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, shared that, “The pope is reminding every one of us, all people, starting with us elderly, that we are all frail and therefore we must take care of each other.”

The Vatican strongly cautioned against publishing “news” that would harm the reputation of an individual, especially someone who is deceased, when it comes to priests accused of abuse and not found guilty in civil or canonical procedures.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, spoke out against President Donald Trump's proposal to deport more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza.

Wrapping up a Vatican summit on the rights of children, Pope Francis announced he was going to publish a papal document dedicated to children.

The pope’s address came on the 10th anniversary of two papal documents that aimed to make the Catholic Church’s marriage annulment process quicker, cheaper and more pastoral.

Pope Francis offered his condolences saying, “In commending the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of almighty God, I offer my deepest sympathies to the families who are now mourning the loss of a loved one.”

The two leaders also spoke by telephone Dec. 19 during which the 82-year-old president thanked the pope “for his continued advocacy to alleviate global suffering.”

Pope Francis has called on all nations to eliminate the death penalty, to divert a fixed percentage of arms spending to a global fund to fight hunger and climate change, and to cancel the international debt of developing nations.

Pope Francis received a new, emission-free, all-electric popemobile from representatives of Mercedes-Benz, the German car manufacturer that has been supplying vehicles for the popes for nearly 100 years.