Pope wants unity among religions

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday encouraged people of different religions to work together in caring for the Earth, which he called our “common house.”

Speaking to tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists, Francis singled out a few hundred people who had marched to St. Peter’s Square under the banner “One Earth, one family.”

The Vatican is putting on a panel Wednesday to draw attention to a conference in Rome later in the week being organized by the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace and by Catholic groups that work on development issues.