"The date was chosen as a sign of the will to build life and fraternity where others sowed death and destruction," said a communique by the Vatican press office Sept. 11.

Pope Francis, who was visiting Mozambique Sept. 4, expressed his sorrow after hearing the news of the cardinal's death.

The bishops of Japan are renewing calls and prayers to build peace by abolishing nuclear weapons worldwide and promoting integral human development.

Vatican City State will have its own reporting system in place before the end of the year for flagging suspected cases of the abuse of minors and vulnerable people and instances of cover-up or negligence in handling such cases, the Vatican said.

Alessandro Gisotti, outgoing interim director of the Vatican press office, said the investigation, led by a Vatican-appointed specialist in forensic medicine, was being carried out according to internationally recognized protocols.

Pope Francis urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to put an end to his country's eight-year-long conflict and seek reconciliation for the good of the nation and its vulnerable people.

Jesuit Father Adelson Araujo dos Santos told Catholic News Service that being open to what indigenous cultures and spiritualities can teach about caring for "our common home" has "nothing to do with a return to paganism, nor does it deny the centrality of Christ and of humanity in the history of salvation."

After all previously stocked items are gone, no more single-use plastic will be sold.

Faced with a climate emergency, the world must act immediately to mitigate global warming and avoid committing "a brutal act of injustice" on the poor and future generations, Pope Francis told a group of energy and oil executives and global investors.

Pope Francis has signed decrees which would advance the sainthood causes of women martyrs of the Spanish Civil War and of the first African-American diocesan priest in the United States, Father Augustus Tolton.