Pope Francis concluded: “We do not come out from a crisis the same as before. We either come out better or worse. We must choose. Solidarity is the way to come out better.”

In his message for the sixth World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis also called for "the cancellation of the debt of the most vulnerable countries."

Pope Francis: “Last Tuesday’s catastrophe calls everyone, beginning with the Lebanese people, to work together for the common good of this beloved country.”

These appointments are a further indication of the pope’s determination to give more responsibility to women in the Vatican in positions that do not require ordination.

Pope Francis: “In the next few weeks, I invite you to tackle together the pressing questions that the pandemic has brought to the fore, social ills above all.”

“Let us pray for the victims, for their families; and let us pray for Lebanon so that it might face this extremely tragic and painful moment and, with the help of the international community, overcome the grave crisis they are experiencing.”

Maximino Caballero Ledo has extensive experience as a finance leader with Baxter International, a Fortune 500 American health care company.

The only reports of Mr. Scalfari’s long conversations with Francis have come from the elderly journalist, who does not record or take notes.

Cardinal Lacroix explained that he decided to speak out because, as the government slowly seeks to reopen society following coronavirus lockdowns, “millions of believers from the different faith communities in the province of Quebec feel betrayed, ignored, by the authorities."

After reciting the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, the pope praised a cease-fire accord in Ukraine and asked young people not to leave the elderly “by themselves” during the pandemic.