The Spanish monsignor was condemned to 18 months in prison for his role in the leaking of Vatican financial documents.

Francis said that at his stage of life one has to move even faster.

"The past night has struck us and shaken us deeply," Bishop Gebhard Furst told attendees at Rottenburg's Cathedral of St. Martin.

Rome for me is a heady place where it’s easy to lose your spiritual bearings.

In a world marked by violence, "the choice of nonviolence as a style of life is increasingly demanded in the exercise of responsibility at every level," the pope said.

The pope is turning 80 this Saturday.