Francis

"Religious tolerance is a treasure that you should protect well and which merits special attention in a time when extremism is threatening religious coexistence," Pope Francis said during a meeting with Albania's President Bujar Nishani.

"No one should think that can use God's strength to carry acts of violence," he added.

Pope Francis arrived Sunday in Albania on an 11-hour visit.

This is the Pope's first European trip since he took office in 2013.

Pope Francis, in his strongest criticism of Islamist militants to date, said no religious group which used violence and oppression could claim to be "the armour of God".

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras called for closer ties between the European Left and the Christian Church on Thursday during a landmark meeting at the Vatican with Pope Francis.

Pope Francis received SYRIZA head Alexis Tsipras in a scheduled, private meeting which reportedly lasted 45 minutes at the Vatican on Thursday morning.

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras will travel to the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis on Thursday according to reports.

Social justice, unemployment, immigration and the Mideast crisis are on the agenda, the reports said.

Pope Francis is planning to visit Turkey in the last days of November at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Vatican announced on Friday.

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Pope Francis will make his first visit to Turkey at the end of November, Turkish Ambassador to the Vatican Kenan Gürsoy said

The liturgical feasts of Saints Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II are to be observed on October 11 and October 22, respectively.

L'Osservatore Romano, the daily newspaper of Vatican City State, has published the decree signed by Cardinal Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera which makes the feast days official.

Pope Francis is expected to pay an official visit to Turkey later this autumn, eight years after his predecessor, Benedict XVI, paid a landmark official visit from the Holy See to the country.