The Catholic Sun

With passion in Cyprus and reason in Greece, Pope Francis continued to articulate and adjust his teaching on migration.

Spending a bit of time with young people before leaving Greece, Pope Francis encouraged them to have the courage to hope, to dream and even to question their faith.

God the Almighty almost always chooses the least mighty people and the most desolate places to reveal the power of his love, Pope Francis said.

Standing in a tent on the shore, Pope Francis said the Mediterranean Sea, "the cradle of so many civilizations, now looks like a mirror of death."

Like St. John Paul II before him, Pope Francis apologized to members of the Orthodox Church of Greece for the ways Catholics over the centuries had offended them, and he told Catholic leaders that they must embrace their minority status with humility.

From Aristotle to St. Gregory Nazianzus, and from the Acropolis to the olive tree, Pope Francis drew from Greek history and culture to appeal for a faith that is lived in good works and a politics that truly seeks the common good.

After Pope Francis denounced putting up "barbed wire" to keep out migrants and the practice of pushing boats back to countries where they face conditions similar to a "lager," the Vatican announced he would help move a dozen migrants from Cyprus to Italy before Christmas.

Pope Francis told migrants that, like them, God dreams of a world where everyone recognizes each other as brothers and sisters.

In this season of Advent as we prepare for the birth of our Lord and the celebration of the greatest gift of all, I am immensely grateful to the Catholics who have expressed their love for Jesus by giving generously to help the poor and marginalized through the national collections of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Baptism is a gift from God that is waiting to be opened to be fully and joyfully experienced by each Christian, said the preacher of the papal household.