CNA Staff, Jan 29, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis encouraged Catholic organizations on Friday to continue to fight against “unacceptable poverty.”

In a message to two Belgian groups released on Jan. 29, the pope said that the coronavirus pandemic had made poverty relief even more difficult. 

Vatican City, Jan 29, 2021 / 04:35 am (CNA).- Pope Francis urged Catholics on Friday to engage in a “mission of compassion” to a world ravaged by the coronavirus crisis. 

Writing in his World Mission Day message, released on Jan. 29, the pope warned Catholics not to succumb to the temptation of justifying indifference on the basis of COVID-19 restrictions.

Vatican City, Jan 27, 2021 / 02:40 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis has given a Catholic charity in Croatia more than $121,000 for earthquake relief.

The money was given to Caritas, part of the local bishops’ conference, to aid families in the Banija region, which was struck by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake last month.

The quake and its foreshocks and aftershocks, which hit on Dec. 29, killed at least seven people, injured dozens, and destroyed homes and churches.

Vatican City, Jan 26, 2021 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis on Tuesday afternoon attended the Vatican funeral of his personal doctor, Fabrizio Soccorsi, who died earlier this month.

Soccorsi, 78, had been receiving treatment for cancer at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. He died from complications related to the coronavirus Jan. 9.

Pope Francis had named Soccorsi, an expert in hepatology, the digestive system, and immunology, his personal physician in August 2015.