The laypeople were the experts—the ones who live the challenges of family life every day—at the San Diego synod responding to Pope Francis' “Amoris Laetitia."

While Europe has played a significantly weighty role in the development of Christianity, "now we see how the church is growing in numbers in Latin America, in Africa and in Asia. The pope is making this clear. This universal character of the church is very beautiful."

People must ask themselves whether they are "'armchair Catholics,' who love to chat about how things are going in the church and the world," Pope Francis said, or if they are "apostles on the go," who are on fire with love for God and ready to offer their lives for him.

Some 160 bishops and 200 Catholic organizations will gather in Orlando to consider how the U.S. church can better promote the Gospel.

Cardinal Pell will return to Australia to appear in court at a hearing scheduled for July 6.

Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis’ chief financial adviser and Australia's most senior Catholic, is the highest-ranking Vatican official to ever be charged in the church’s long-running sexual abuse scandal.