Two French horticulturists, Croix Dominique and Jacques Ranchon, recently named a new breed of white rose “Pope Franciscus” after the pontiff. Pope Francis has a devotion to the Little Flower, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and receives white roses from her intercession: “Whenever I have a problem, I ask the saint not to solve it, but to take it into her hands and to help me accept it and I almost always receive a white rose as a sign.” Fifty rose bushes are planted in the Vatican Gardens and at Castel Gandolfo. 

The protection and promotion of life

In his address to the Science and Life Association in June, Pope Francis said that a civilization that fails to protect life does not fulfill its responsibilities. He said that abortion, euthanasia, malnutrition and abandonment of immigrants are attacks against human life. “I invite you to highly maintain your gaze on the sacredness of every human person, so that science may truly be at the service of man, and not man at the service of science,” he said.

Did you know?

Pope Francis has not watched television since 1990.

"In a world in which it is so normal to experience a throwaway culture – if we are not happy with something we discard it – you live this situation with heroism. You are the little heroes of life." – Pope Francis to an audience of sick children and their parents in May.

@Pontifex

“It is better to have a Church that is wounded but out in the streets than a Church that is sick because it is closed in on itself.” - May 16, 2015