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Blessed Junipero Serra������Ƶapp motto was “always forward, never back.” But as the date nears for his canonization by Pope Francis, Serra������Ƶapp life of faithful evangelization is being fiercely — and many say unfairly — questioned by detractors who insist on looking back into the life and times of the 18th-century missionary priest.

Americans are gung-ho for Pope Francis’ U.S. visit — if they know he������Ƶapp coming.

They really, really like him, too, particularly Catholics — even if they’re sometimes confused about what he believes.

WASHINGTON - When Pope Francis approaches the Catholic Charities building in downtown Washington during his U.S. visit in September, he will encounter a "homeless person" covered in a blanket laying on a park bench.

VATICAN CITY - More than a month before Pope Francis was scheduled to arrive in the United States, his ride landed on U.S. shores.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis was unwittingly thrust into the centre of a long-running diplomatic dispute between Argentina and the U.K. after holding a sign calling for dialogue over the Falkland Islands.

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine environmentalists and advocates for farmers, fishers and the poor praised lauded the recently released encyclical, "Laudato Si'," as "affirmation" for their causes and said that, using it as a guide, they were ready to get to work.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis reflected on the “serious social damage” caused by unemployment and praised governments for their efforts to create jobs Aug. 19.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis is looking for a few good "missionaries of mercy," priests who are known for their preaching and their dedication to hearing confessions and granting absolution.

VATICAN CITY - Selfishness and fear keep too many people ignorant of the suffering of others and prevent them from finding creative ways to express solidarity and to promote peace, said a statement from the Vatican's justice and peace office.

VATICAN CITY - Caring for all of creation includes paying particular attention to the needs of young people and the aged, Pope Francis told the audience of a Catholic radio station in Argentina.

VATICAN CITY - Seventy years after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, Pope Francis on Aug. 9 described the bomb as a “lasting warning to humanity.”

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has established an apostolic exarchate, the precursor to a diocese, for Syro-Malabar Catholics in Canada and has named their current Toronto-based chaplain, Fr. Jose Kalluvelil, a bishop and head of the exarchate.

VATICAN CITY - The world continues to be silent in the face of widespread persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, Pope Francis said.

Speaking out on one of the most contentious issues of his papacy, Pope Francis issued a powerful call for the Church to embrace Catholics who have divorced and remarried, telling a gathering at the Vatican Aug. 5 that such couples “are not excommunicated, and they absolutely must not be treated that way.”

VATICAN CITY - The U.S. ambassador to the Holy See believes Pope Francis is not traveling to the United States in September to scold anyone, but to challenge the country's people to live up to their ideals.