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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Sharing the same roots as their Jewish brothers and sisters, Christians cannot be anti-Semitic and must work to ensure anti-Semitism is banned from society, Pope Francis said.

Honoring both the pain and the strength of the families of those who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and drawing on the pools of water that are part of the site’s memorial, Pope Francis spoke about tears and quenching the world’s longing for peace.

Leaders of various faith traditions and civic leaders joined their voices with Catholics June 18 in praising Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home" and its emphasis on caring for and protecting all of creation.

Families who have lots of children do not cause poverty, Pope Francis said. The main culprit is "an economic system that has removed the human person from its focus and has placed the god of money" as its priority instead.

Pope Francis stressed that, despite church doctrine against contraception, Catholics fail to practice "responsible parenthood" when they have too many children.

Four of the daily homilies of Pope Francis over the 19 months of his pontificate in particular help explain the direction he has taken in ecumenism and interreligious efforts, said a priest who has served as a Vatican spokesman during events including the recent extraordinary Synod of Bishops.

Praying for peace in the Holy Land alongside leaders of long-antagonistic nations, Pope Francis called on God to act where human efforts had failed, to end what he described as violence inspired by the devil.

The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics arrived in this ancient city May 25 to find buildings bedecked with papal flags and huge banners proclaiming “Welcome to the Holy Land, Pope Francis!”

On Pope Francis' first trip to the Holy Land, May 24-26, his agenda will focus on the search for Christian unity, particularly between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. But inevitably, in a region so rich in history and so fraught with conflict, he will address other urgent issues, including dialogue with Jews and Muslims, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the plight of the Middle East's shrinking Christian population.

As Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, the future pope dragged the hidden problem of human slavery into broad daylight via open-air Masses for and with victims of human trafficking. Now, as pope, he's calling it "a crime against humanity" and decrying the world's indifference.