Pope urges hope in visit to Peru area devastated by floods

The 86-year-old pontiff capped his trip to Hungary with a final Mass in Budapest on a sunny spring morning, with thousands having gathered for the blessing. He told people to fight the "closed doors" of nationalism.

The pope reiterated his calls for welcoming migrants after a meeting with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He will also lead an open-air mass outside parliament on Sunday.

Pope Francis, hospital ,check-up,Italian media

The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics has suffered several health issues in the last year, but the pontiff is recovering well from his operation, the Vatican has said.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church is "better than before," a doctor said, after he underwent a hernia operation.

Peru's most active volcano has been spewing ash and gas since earlier this week, with the smoke cloud traveling over nearby towns. The government declared a state of emergency that lasts 60 days.

Comments Pope Francis made during a private discussion on a recent trip to Portugal criticizing the US Catholic Church, home to several of his more staunch opponents, have been made public in Italy.

In Peru, 60 percent of people who disappear are women. Over 11,000 women were reported missing in the country last year, the majority of them teenagers. Some disappearances are voluntary. But most are linked to human trafficking networks, prostitution and domestic violence. Despite this poor record, Peru was the first nation in South America to recognise forced disappearances as gender-based violence.

With just over 1,400 Catholics, Mongolia is one of the smallest and newest Catholic communities in the world. Pope Francis makes the trip while also casting an eye toward China.

After a mass in Mongolia attended by some groups of Chinese Catholics, the pope told them to be "good Christians and good citizens."

At the end of his historic trip to the Buddhist nation, Pope Francis said the Catholic church is driven by faith to help the needy, and not as a way of attracting new converts.

At least 24 people were killed in a passenger bus accident in Peru on Monday (September 18), according to the company operating the vehicle. A representative for the company Molina Union, Scarlet Bueno, told Reuters that at least 24 people had died, but did not give further details.