Faith

VATICAN CITY -- Loving acts of service and charity not only help build up the Kingdom of God, they attract and influence others, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Christians who preach the Gospel must see people who do not know Christ as children of God and not as nonbelievers worthy of hostility and contempt, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- In life, Christians face the choice of either being open to encountering God's generosity or closed in on their own interests, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Jesus invites everyone to always go to him, which, Pope Francis said, also means no longer making life revolve around oneself.

ROME -- In what he said was his first visit to the catacombs, Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the feast of All Souls with special words of remembrance for Catholics who still today must worship in secret.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis prayed for those killed during violent protests in Ethiopia, which left dozens of people dead.

VATICAN CITY -- The early November feasts of All Saints and All Souls are reminders that God's church exists both on earth and in heaven and that all the faithful, living and dead, can and should pray for each other, a top Vatican official wrote.

VATICAN CITY -- The saints were flesh-and-blood people whose lives included real struggles and joys, and whose holiness reminds all the baptized that they, too, are called to be saints, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Death is not a topic that should be avoided but a reminder that cures men and women from any illusion of being all-powerful, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Jesus' love for each person is a concrete love, a love that is addressed to each person "with their first and last name," Pope Francis said.