In all three countries, Pope Francis pleaded for protection of the environment. Mining by foreign companies to extract precious minerals has been a major problem in Madagascar and Mozambique. In Madagascar, deforestation is especially a threat.

Some Catholic schools are implementing dual-language programs, part of an effort to reflect the reality of life in the church in the United States.

The first of 250,000 folios of letters and photographs preserved at the oratory were published for the first time, under a digitization program co-organized by the National Institute for Newman Studies in Pittsburgh.

Integral ecology requires a cultural and spiritual conversion built on a "culture of encounter."