Francis delivered a World Communication Day address via a press conference on Thursday. Vatican Insider prefaced their coverage with this peculiar statement: "Mgr. Celli describes it as a 'Franciscan' text and urges against a clichéd reading of Francis’ messages."
Meaning: "No it's not Catholic, silly, it's Franciscan, so stop it already!" Apparently this a defensive strategy to soften anticipated criticism of Francis' statement on dialogue, which follows: "Engaging in dialogue does not mean renouncing our own ideas and traditions, but the claim that they alone are valid or absolute." Novus Ordo Watch pounced on that and gave it a sound Catholic thrashing. Deo Gratias!
According to this Eponymous Flower post, 10,000 French Catholics signed a petition begging Francis to speak clearly on their behalf to French President Francois Hollande, whom he met with today. Among their concerns are abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage, adoption rights for homosexuals, surrogacy, and gender ideology. However, Vatican Insider reports that "the communiqué issued by the Holy See, brushes over the difficult relationship between the Hollande presidency and the French Catholic Church: from the 'mariage pour tous' law which legalises same-sex marriage, to the end-of-life bill and the difference in positions over Syria, when the Élysée expressed itself in favour of military intervention." But Francis and Hollande did manage to talk about protecting Syrian Christians and 'the big issue' of climate change.
Tweeting a vague support for the March for Life, Francis let his real message be voiced through "Cardinal" Sean O'Malley. According to Rocco Palmo in this Whispers in the Loggia post, Catholics at the National Vigil Mass for Life in Washington, D.C., were carefully reminded of Francis' infamous "who am I to judge?" line in O'Malley's homily, which was based on John's Gospel account of the adulterous woman. The "cardinal" then worked in other topics like adoption, poverty, and immigration, effectively equating the legal murder of unborn children with social justice issues.