We are called to be open to the times in which we live, with their changes and challenges. We are called to sow the seeds of the Gospel, to prune the dead branches of evil and to bear fruit. #ApostolicJourney

St. Stephen of #Hungary was an intrepid evangelizer who listened and dialogued with everyone, and cared for the poor. This is the Church we dream of: a Church able to listen, dialogue and care for the most vulnerable; a welcoming Church that courageously brings the Gospel to all.

Those who profess to be Christian are called to bear witness and walk with everyone to cultivate a humanism inspired by the Gospel which moves along two fundamental tracks: acknowledging that we are beloved children of the Father, and loving one another as brothers and sisters.

#Peace will never come by pursuing individual strategic interests, but only from policies capable of looking to the bigger picture and the development of all: policies attentive to individuals, the poor and the future, and not merely to power, profit and the present.

Faith was passed down from generation to generation through life, through witnesses who brought the flame of the Gospel, the joy of the saving love of Jesus, and the hope of his promise. Faith grows through witness.

Monks and nuns are the beating heart of the proclamation of the Gospel: their prayer is oxygen for all the members of the Body of Christ, the invisible force that sustains the mission. #GeneralAudience

This year, for the World Day of Prayer for #Vocations, I would ask you, in your reflection and prayer, to take as your guide the theme “Vocation: Grace and Mission”. https://t.co/gckx3xLCuT

We discover we are children of God at the moment we discover we are brothers and sisters, children of the same Father. This is why it is essential to be part of a journeying community. No one goes to the Lord alone.

Using weapons to resolve conflicts is a sign of weakness and fragility. Negotiation, proceeding in mediation, and conciliation require courage. #Peace

Dear Hungarian brothers and sisters, I know you are making great efforts to prepare for my arrival: I thank you from my heart. And I ask you all to accompany me with your prayers.

Next Friday I will go to Budapest, in Hungary. It will be a journey to the centre of Europe, over which the icy winds of war continue to blow, while the displacement of so many people puts urgent humanitarian questions on the agenda.

The #GospelOfToday (Lk 24: 13-35) invites us to tell Jesus everything, sincerely, without fear of saying the wrong thing. The Lord is happy whenever we open ourselves to Him; only in this way can He take us by the hand, accompany us and make our hearts burn again.

The Book of Genesis tells us that the Lord entrusted human beings with the responsibility of being stewards of creation (Gen 2:15). Care for the Earth, then, is a moral obligation for all men and women as children of God. #EarthDay @EarthDay

Praising God is like breathing pure oxygen: it purifies the soul, it makes you look far ahead, it does not leave you imprisoned in the difficult and dark moment of hardship.

God's gaze never stops with our past filled of errors, but looks with infinite confidence at what we can become.

Let us persevere in our closeness in prayer for dear and distressed #Ukraine, which continues to endure terrible suffering. Let us #PrayTogether.

Let us #PrayTogether that we may never tire of bearing witness to the Gospel, even in times of tribulation. May all the martyr saints be seeds of peace among peoples for a more humane and fraternal world, as we await the full manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Our hope is called Jesus. He is alive and evil has no more power over Him. Failure cannot prevent us from beginning again, and death becomes the passage to the beginning of a new life. #Easter

If you have dreams of true glory, not the glory of this passing world, but of the glory of God, this is the path to follow: the works of #mercy give glory to God more than any other thing.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, certain of interpreting the feelings of the faithful throughout the world, I direct a grateful thought to the memory of Saint John Paul II, the object of offensive and unfounded inferences these past few days.