"Injustice is radicalized in the young," Pope Francis said. "They are cannon fodder, persecuted and threatened when they try to flee the spiral of violence and the hell of drugs."
Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill I of the Russian Orthodox Church will meet in Cuba for the first time next Friday as part of an effort to heal a schism that has divided Christianity between East and West for nearly 1,000 years.
Pope Francis on Wednesday offered a surprise public apology from the Catholic Church for a series of scandals which have shaken the city of Rome and the Vatican, from gay sex to drug use.
Pope Francis met on Sunday with victims of church sex abuse, saying "God weeps" for their suffering and promising to hold all those responsible to account.
In a wide-ranging speech at the UN, Pope Francis touched on an array of hot-button topics, including the persecution of Christians, the Iran nuclear deal, drug trafficking -- "silently killing millions" -- and the rights of girls to an education.
On Friday, the head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics will address the United Nations before leading an inter-faith service at the 9/11 Memorial and visiting a Catholic school in Harlem.
A day after meeting with President Barack Obama and enjoying a rapturous welcome from thousands of people on the streets of Washington, Francis became the first pontiff to address a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Pope Francis plunged into his first U.S. visit with gusto Wednesday, embracing the adulation of jubilant crowds across Washington even as he confronted controversy in remarks at the White House and a meeting of U.S. Catholic bishops.
