Catholic News Service

The Vatican's first-ever auditor general said false information given to the pope is what led to his wrongful termination, a claim he said will be central to his appeal scheduled to be heard before a Vatican court July 3.

While Jesus entrusted St. Peter with the keys to the kingdom more than two millennia ago, and his modern-day successor conferred apostolic authority to newly appointed archbishops June 29, it is ultimately God who holds the power to open the church's doors and lead the Christian community forward in its mission of evangelization, Pope Francis said.

Heaven is not a secure vault protected from outsiders but a "hidden treasure" that is reached by cultivating virtues, Pope Francis said. Before praying the Angelus in St. Peter's Square on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29, the pope reflected on Jesus giving St. Peter, the first pope, the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Pope Francis prayed in thanksgiving for the release of two Ukrainian Catholic priests who were held in Russian captivity for more than 19 months, calling on Christians to pray for the release of all prisoners of war.

Pope Francis expressed his concern that Christians fleeing the Holy Land and the whole of the Middle East will leave no Christian presence in the land "where it all began."

Being obedient to God's commandment and spirit of love can radically change attitudes and actions to convert people from "predators" of natural resources to "tillers" of God's great garden of planet Earth, Pope Francis said.

While Christians must treat addicts with care and comprehension, drug traffickers who push their products on the vulnerable are "murderers" who are called to conversion, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis appointed two special commissioners to start work on building an agrivoltaic system on a Vatican property outside of Rome that could supply the whole of Vatican City's energy needs.

Pope Francis called on world leaders to avoid any actions or words that could fuel current conflicts and instead to push for negotiations and peace.

Pope Francis blessed an ambulance filled with medicine and first-aid equipment that will travel some 1,800 miles from the Vatican to support those wounded in Ukraine.

Mental health, discrimination against minorities, including LGBTQ+ people, and a desire to be included more in church life were some of the concerns young college students shared with Pope Francis on a Zoom conference call.

"We are the biggest player in this field, so we have a special obligation," Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, president of the Pontifical Gregorian University's Institute of Anthropology: Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care, said.

The pope's remarks came during an audience at the Vatican June 20 with cosmologists, theoretical physicists, astronomers and other experts who were attending a June 16-21 conference organized by the Vatican Observatory and dedicated to the latest questions, theories and research being done regarding black holes, gravitational waves and space-time singularities.

There is a prayer for every state of mind and spiritual need in the Book of Psalms, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals continued their discussions about the role of women in the church, listening to women experts and discussing the possibilities according to canon law.

Condemning the killing of Christians in Congo, Pope Francis said the sacrifices of modern martyrs are seeds that grow into examples of Christian witness for the church.

The group included 25 CEOs who are part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative. Established in 2020 by King Charles III, the initiative brings together leaders from different sectors to commit to concrete action that supports sustainable economic growth and caring for the environment.

105 comedians from around the world  traveled to the Vatican for a papal audience and to "establish a link between the Catholic Church and comic artists," according to the Dicastery for Culture and Education, which organized the meeting.

The poor bear the image of Jesus, and Christians must offer them support and expressions of Christian charity, Pope Francis said.

Christians should read Scripture often, every day if possible, and look to the Spirit if reading the Gospel ever feels dry, Pope Francis said.