As the Catholic Church and Christians at large experience intense persecution in Nicaragua, Pope Francis expressed encouragement and support to the people living under the country's authoritarian regime.

"To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus," he said after praying the Angelus Aug. 25. "Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history toward higher projects."

The previous week, the Nicaraguan government revoked the legal status of 1,500 nonprofit organizations operating in the country, many of them Christian churches as well as Catholic charitable organizations and religious congregations. Nicaragua's national assembly also approved new measures Aug. 20 to tax donations to churches and religious organizations of all denominations. And during the first three weeks of August, nine Catholic priests were arrested in Nicaragua and exiled to Rome.

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"May the Immaculate Virgin protect you in times of trial and help you feel her motherly tenderness; may Our Lady accompany the beloved people of Nicaragua," the pope prayed with visitors in St. Peter's Square.

Pope Francis also expressed his solidarity with the thousands of people affected by outbreaks of monkeypox, which was declared a "public health emergency of international concern" by the World Health Organization Aug. 14. According to figures from the U.N. organization updated Aug. 22, there have been 3,562 cases of monkeypox in 2024, resulting in 26 deaths. Twelve countries have reported cases of monkeypox with the outbreak being most acute in Congo.

"I pray for all those infected, especially the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo suffering greatly," the pope said. "I express my sympathy to the local churches in the countries most affected by this disease, and I encourage governments and private industries to share available technology and treatments so that no one lacks adequate medical care."

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Gesturing to the mass of visitors dressed in black under the August sun, Pope Francis greeted the new seminarians studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome and wished them "a good formative journey."

"I also wish them to live their priesthood with joy, because true prayer gives us joy," he said.

The Pontifical North American College's incoming class consists of 38 seminarians -- 36 from the United States and two from Australia. For the 2024-25 academic year, a total of 113 men from 56 dioceses and eparchies will be preparing for the priesthood at the college with the Archdiocese of Washington having the largest number of seminarians enrolled.

In his main address, the pope reflected on the day's Gospel reading from St. John in which Jesus' followers are shocked after he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." Many of Jesus' disciples abandoned him after hearing this because what he said was too hard to understand.

But "Jesus' choices often go beyond common thinking, beyond the very canons of institutional religion and traditions to the point of creating provocative and embarrassing situations," Pope Francis said.

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"It is not easy to follow him," he added. "Even for us, it is not easy to follow the Lord, to understand his way of acting, to make his criteria and his example our own."

"It is not easy for us. However, the closer we are to him -- the more we adhere to his Gospel, receive his grace in the sacraments, stay in his company in prayer, imitate him in humility and charity -- the more we experience the beauty of having him as our friend and realize that he alone has the words of eternal life," the pope said.