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When children are baptized, their parents and the church are giving them the greatest gift ever: the gift of faith, Pope Francis said before baptizing 21 infants in the Sistine Chapel.

While society is increasingly focused on pushing the limits of human achievement, it must not lose sight of its duty to protect the dignity of the vulnerable, especially children exploited by the "scourge of child labor," Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis has appointed Consolata Missionary Sister Simona Brambilla to be the first woman to lead a Vatican dicastery, naming her prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

More than half a million pilgrims crossed the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica in the first two weeks after Pope Francis opened it.

Pope Francis was "deeply saddened" to learn of deaths and injuries caused by the attack in New Orleans on New Year's Day, which killed 15 people.

Thirteen Catholic "missionaries" were killed in 2024, most of them during the commission of a robbery, but several obviously were targeted for the church work they did.

God wants to save each and every person, and Christians are called to give witness to that fact by praying even for people who have harmed them, Pope Francis said.

In the quiet of Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, launching what he called a "Jubilee of Hope."