Those chosen to lead the Way of the Cross included minors living in foster homes, people with disabilities, migrants, catechists, priests and cloistered nuns.

"The concern of the risen Jesus is not to confuse his enemies, but to go and reassure his dismayed disciples," he said.

The gifts of men and women are “fruitful” together, and to erase the difference between men and women “is to erase humanity,” Pope Francis said.

“I believe that your trip will bring fruits of pacification and the fraternity of all Argentines, eager to overcome our divisions and conflicts,” the Argentinian president said in a letter sent to the pope.

Reaffirming their fidelity to the pope and the Gospel, Catholic bishops in Africa have released a common response to a recent Vatican declaration, saying they “generally prefer” not to offer blessings to same-sex couples.

The priest detailed the qualities of “real priests” versus those who side with “Bergoglio and his mercenaries.” He said the See of Peter is occupied by a “masonic Jesuit tied to a group of globalists, an antipope usurper.”

The huge advances in new information technologies, the pope said, “offer exciting opportunities and grave risks, with serious implications for the pursuit of justice and harmony among peoples.”

In a “note” from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican has upheld a rule mandating that the ashes of the deceased be preserved in a consecrated place.

The Catholic Church has long denounced Freemasonry; in particular, Pope Leo XIII, in the late 19th century, insisted “Christianity and Freemasonry are essentially irreconcilable.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has reached out to known victims of Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik, asking to meet with them.