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Pope Francis appoints Bishop Mario Grech, the former Bishop of Gozo, Malta, as secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops. Bishop Grech replaces Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, just prior to his 80th birthday.
2020-09-16

Pope Francis petitions President Bashar al-Assad Assad to protect weak and defenseless in Syria. The pope’s appeal is in a letter to Assad delivered by Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development at a meeting with the president in Damascus.
2019-07-22

Pope Francis arrives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, becoming the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula.
2019-02-3

Pope Francis, at the start of a two-day nuclear disarmament conference at Vatican City, says countries should not stockpile nuclear weapons even for the purpose of deterrence.
2017-11-10

Pope Francis announces a special assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region. The synod is planned for October of 2019.
2017-10-15

Pope Francis's apostolic journey to Mexico is February 12 to 18. On the first full day in Mexico, the pope addresses political leaders at the National Palace, speaks to bishops at the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, and celebrates Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
2016-02-13

Pope Francis becomes the first Pope ever to address a Joint Session of the United States Congress. Afterwards, he greets onlookers at the National Mall. He addresses many issues: abortion and the sanctity of life, the importance of the family and of marriage, climate change, immigration and the refugee crises caused by global unrest, proper business conduct, and worldwide abolition of capital punishment.
2015-09-24

Pope Francis, on the second day of his journey in Cuba, leaves Havana for Holguin. He says a Mass at Revolution Plaza, blesses Holguin from the Loma de la Cruz area, arrives in Santiago de Cuba, flies to Santiago de Cuba, meets with the Cuban Bishops at Saint Basil the Great Seminary, and says a prayer with them at the Minor Basilica of the Basílica Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre (Shrine of Our Lady of del Cobre).
2015-09-21

Philippine authorities in Manila concentrate street children in cages with some even chained in anticipation of Pope Francis' pastoral visit.
2015-01-15

Bishop Blase Cupich of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane is appointed by Pope Francis to succeed Cardinal Francis Eugene George, O.M.I., 77, who is ill with a recurrence of cancer, as Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.
2014-09-20