Pope Francis

Caritas representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean met in Honduras in early February and discussed how the church can recover and transfer the wisdom of indigenous peoples to other societies.

Taking their cue from Christ, moral theologians can see that people need to be liberated and healed, not condemned, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis’ trip to Morocco March 30-31 will include a visit to a school training an international group of Muslim prayer leaders and preachers, including women.

The declaration signed by Pope Francis and Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, the grand imam of al-Azhar, during the pope’s trip to the United Arab Emirates “is a clarion call for robust dialogue that leads to peace,” said the Catholic chairman of the National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue and the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

Mission “is that dynamic that leads you to be a neighbor to others to share the gift you have received: the encounter of love that changed your life and led you to consecrate your life to the Lord Jesus, good news for the life and salvation of the world,” the pope said Feb. 8.

Pope Francis said his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates, while brief, was a new page in relations between Christians and Muslims at a time when conflict and violence threaten the goal of lasting peace.

In an officially Muslim nation where Christians are welcomed as guest workers and free to worship, Pope Francis urged leaders of the world’s main religions to embrace a broader vision of freedom, justice, tolerance and peace.

Appealing to the world’s leaders and policymakers, Pope Francis called for protecting the unborn and seeing these new lives as people who will bring new beginnings and hope for the future.