"Good politics is at the service of peace" will be the theme for the Jan. 1 commemoration and for the message Pope Francis will write for the occasion.

"A Christian cannot be an anti-Semite; we share the same roots. It would be a contradiction of faith and life."

Countries do not develop by themselves; they are built by migrants, Pope Francis said.

Following the Francigena Way, an ancient pilgrims' path, a group of about 300 synod participants and young people from Rome parishes headed to St. Peter's Basilica to pray at the apostle's tomb.

This new catechumenate is necessary, Pope Francis said, because "you can't play around with love."

With the launch of a new book, Pope Francis is calling for a new alliance -- between young and old -- to change the world.

Honduran Bishop Jose Antonio Canales of Danli said that, given what is going on in his country and throughout Central America, he had to walk in the "Share the Journey" campaign of Caritas Internationalis.

Catholics need to help the church along a path of "deep spiritual renewal," Pope Francis told Jesuits from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Speaking to the Synod of Bishops on behalf of Belgium's bishops' conference, a bishop said he was sure some young married men would become priests if they were asked.

"Is it right to hire a hit man to solve a problem? No, you can't. It's not right to take out a human being, a small one, too, in order to fix a problem. It is like hiring a professional killer," the pope said.