LIMA (CNS): A weeklong pastoral visit to Chile and Peru saw Pope Francis tackling many a politically charged issue. Addressing large audiences that included political leaders, he denounced human trafficking, decried environmental destruction, corruption and organised crime.
 

SANTIAGO (CNS): The evil of sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy has betrayed the trust of the faithful and caused suffering to those in priesthood and religious life who bear the consequences of their brethren’s sins, Pope Francis said on January 16.
 

SANTIAGO (Agencies):  On his fourth trip to South America, Pope Francis touched down in Santiago, Chile, on January 15, the first stop on a seven-day, six-city visit to Chile and Peru, where he will take his message of hope to people on the margins of society, CNS reported.
 

VATICAN (CNS): A culture of peace “calls for unremitting efforts in favour of disarmament and the reduction of recourse to the use of armed force in the handling of international affairs,” Pope Francis said in his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican on January 8. 
 

VATICAN (CNS): “All life, from life in the mother’s womb to that of the elderly, the suffering and the sick, and to that of the troublesome and even repellent, is to be welcomed, loved and helped,” Pope Francis said during a Mass celebrating the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and marking World Peace Day at St. Peter’s Basilica, on January 1.
 

VATICAN (SE): For the third time since he ascended to the Chair of Peter, Pope Francis has read the riot act to Vatican officials in his Christmas message to the Roman Curia on December 21.
 
Although officially listed as an exchange of Christmas greetings, as well as an opportunity for the pope to thank staff for the work they have done during the year, Pope Francis moved away from the customary format of reviewing  the previous 12 months and outlining a few priorities for the upcoming year.
 

VATICAN (SE): For the third time since he ascended to the Chair of Peter, Pope Francis has read the riot act to Vatican officials in his Christmas message to the Roman Curia on December 21.
 
Although officially listed as an exchange of Christmas greetings, as well as an opportunity for the pope to thank staff for the work they have done during the year, Pope Francis moved away from the customary format of reviewing  the previous 12 months and outlining a few priorities for the upcoming year.
 

VATICAN (CNS): As 2017 receded and drew to a close, the horrors of war and people’s yearnings for peace were on Pope Francis’ mind and in his prayers.
 
In an unusual move, late on December 30 the pope requested that the Vatican Press Office and Vatican media distribute a copy of a famous photograph from the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
 
The photo depicts a young boy, about 10-years-old, carrying his dead little brother on his back. 
 

VATICAN (SE): “All indicators available to the international community suggest that global migration will continue into the future. For my part, I ask you to view it with confidence as an opportunity to build peace,” Pope Francis says in his Message for the 51st World Day of Peace, which is marked on 1 January 2108.
 

HONG KONG (SE): A gunfight resulting in three brutal deaths took place in the Barangay Mansangaban Playground of Bais City, Negros Occidental, on 25 April 1993, in full view of around 100 people, including the children and families of the dead and the daughter of a barangay captain, who was later to be found guilty of the multiple murder.