Pope Francis assured Ukrainians that he prays for them constantly, calls attention to their plight publicly and continues to support humanitarian aid for them so they would know they are not alone and so that people around the world would continue to provide aid.
Box of Joy’s goal this year has been to engage 1,505 Catholic organizations in packing gift boxes for 144,500 children in poverty-stricken nations.
Pope Francis noted that there are millions of boys and girls around the world living “in conditions very similar to slavery.”
“I think Jesus is speaking to our human tendency to worry, sometimes ceaselessly, about tomorrow, about yesterday, about the far-off future and the long-dead past.”
“Creating art is an interesting way to share your faith,” said Aquiliana Wolf, 14, who helped to organize the program. “God tells us to spread our faith to others — Art in the Park is how I share what I love with young people, so they can learn to love God and art as much as I do.”
Parents, with their children nearby, gathered near the Capitol to call on Congress, particularly Republican senators, to push through restrictions against high-powered weapons that have been used in mass shootings.
In a message sent May 12, 2022, to participants of a conference in Rome, Pope Francis said declining birth rates in Italy and Western countries are “impoverishing everyone’s future.”
In the spotlight: Ukraine war, papal health, St. John Paul II
