Pope Francis met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose right-wing, anti-immigrant policies clash with Francis' call for countries to welcome refugees. Francis discussed refugees and anti-Semitism in Budapest.

"Here, in this place, the name of God was dishonored," Pope Francis said at a Holocaust memorial in Bratislava. During World War II, Slovakia was governed by a Nazi puppet regime, headed by Catholic priest Jozef Tiso.

The top Catholic said it was "time to make wise choices" for the future of the planet, addressing some 400 young climate activists who had gathered in Milan.

In his Angelus prayer, Pope Francis deplores the "terrible outbreak of violence" in the prison of Guayaquil, Ecuador, where at least 118 inmates died - including six beheaded - in rioting among rival gangs before police regained control.

Pope Francis expresses his personal shame and that of the Church at the sexual abuse of children by French Catholic clergy, and offers the victims his prayers, after the scale of the problem was laid bare in a devastating report. An independent commission revealed earlier this week that French Catholic clergy sexually abused around 216,000 minors over seven decades since 1950, calling the scandal a "massive phenomenon" that was covered up by a "veil of silence".

Pope Francis expresses his compassion for the victims of the recent attacks in Norway, Afghanistan and England stressing that "violence begets violence."

A boy walks unexpectedly and repeatedly on stage to say hello to Pope Francis during the weekly Wednesday audience at the Vatican. After the child walks on the stage for the third time, the Pope says he wishes to "thank this child for the lesson he taught" because "he has acted from the heart."

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said the Catholic Church needs to be more transparent about abuse scandals. He and the pope also criticized a lack of coherent EU immigration policy with regard to refugees.

Religious minorities in India have reported increased discrimination and violence since Narendra Modi took office in 2014. The pope wants to make an official trip to the South Asian nation, but has so far been shunned.

Pope Francis said that those who are indifferent to the poor "offend God." In a Christmas season overshadowed by coronavirus worries, he also urged followers to value the "little things in life."

The Turkish lira has been hitting all-time lows against the US dollar and the euro in recent months and inflation is soaring, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unfazed.

Former Pope Benedict XVI failed to act over four child abuse cases when he was archbishop of Munich, a German probe into the Catholic Church has alleged. ... But a new report into historical abuse allegations carried out by a German law firm incriminated the former pontiff.