'The church urgently needs religious who dedicate their lives to being on the very frontiers between faith and human knowledge, faith and modern science,' Pope Francis told the group of papal astronomers.

Are Catholics considering the pope in their political decisions?

The Vatican “values positively” Iran’s recent agreement with the European Union and the so-called ‘P5 plus 1’ group of nations because “it considers that the way to resolve disputes and difficulties should always be that of dialogue and negotiation.”

U.S. President Barack Obama, Cuban President Raul Castro and the Vatican have called for a lifting of the embargo, which was first put in place in 1960 and repeatedly strengthened in the years since.

Not only will Pope Francis be the first pope to visit the U.S. Congress, but papal speeches to parliaments of any single nation are extremely rare.

The complete list of synod participants and papal appointees was released Sept. 15 by the Vatican.