Pope Francis celebrated an open-air mass with hundreds of thousands of faithful under scorching heat in Ecuador, highlighting the importance of family on his return to his home region.
Pope Francis embarks on an eight-day visit to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay, three of South America's 'peripheral' countries which share common challenges in addressing poverty.
President Barack Obama praised the pope's call for action on climate change and said the United States should lead global efforts to cut carbon pollution and bolster clean energy sources.
Pope Francis flies into Sarajevo bearing a message of reconciliation 20 years after peace accords which ended Bosnia's war but left the country divided on ethnic lines
Pope Francis denounced the "intolerable brutality" being inflicted on Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria by Islamic State group militants.
Pope Francis expressed "profound sadness" over the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by Islamic militants in Libya, saying they had been killed for their faith.
Pope Francis will bring his message of peace and compassion to politically gridlocked Washington in September when he becomes the first pontiff to address the US Congress.