Pope Francis leaves after speaking to university students Thursday, April 10, at the Vatican. With his penchant for crowd-pleasing and spontaneous acts of compassion, the Pope has earned high praise from fellow Catholics and others since he replaced Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013. 
The Pope meets faithfuls as he visits the San Gregorio Parish in Rome on Sunday, April 6. 
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with the Pope during their one-day visit to Rome on April 3. 
Francis speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited the Vatican on March 27. 
The Pope blesses the altar at Rome's Santa Sabina church as he celebrates Mass on March 5, Ash Wednesday. 
Daniele De Sanctis, a 19-month-old child dressed up as a pope, is handed to Francis as the pontiff is driven through the crowd February 26 at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. 
Wind blows the papal skullcap off Pope Francis' head February 19 in St. Peter's Square. 
A lamb is placed around Francis' neck as he visits a living nativity scene staged at the St. Alfonso Maria de' Liguori parish church, on the outskirts of Rome, on January 6. 
The Pope holds a baby Jesus during a Christmas Eve Mass held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican in 2013. 
Pope Francis, right, meets with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican on December 23. Benedict surprised the world by resigning "because of advanced age." It was the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years. 
Pope Francis marked his 77th birthday on December 17 by hosting homeless men to a Mass and a meal at the Vatican. One of the men brought his dog. 
Pope Francis embraced Vinicio Riva, a disfigured man who suffers from a non-infectious genetic disease, during a public audience November 6 at the Vatican. Riva then buried his head in the Pope's chest. 
Pope Francis jokes November 6 with members of the Rainbow Association, which uses clown therapy in hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages. 
A young boy hugs Francis as he delivers a speech October 26 in St. Peter's Square. The boy, part of a group of children sitting around the stage, played around the Pope as the Pope continued his speech and occasionally patted the boy's head. 
Francis has eschewed fancy cars. Here, Father Don Renzo Zocca, second from right, offers his white Renault 4L to the Pope during a meeting September 7 at the Vatican. 
Francis has his picture taken inside St. Peter's Basilica with youths who came to Rome for a pilgrimage in August. 
During an impromptu news conference on July 29, aboard a plane from Brazil to Rome, the Pope said about gay priests, "Who am I to judge?" Many saw the move as the opening of a more tolerant era in the Catholic Church. 
Crowds swarm the Pope as he makes his way through World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro on July 27. According to the Vatican, 1 million people turned out to see the Pope. 
Francis frees a dove May 15 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. 
Francis embraces a young boy with cerebral palsy on March 31, 2013, a gesture that many took as a heartwarming token of his self-stated desire to "be close to the people." 
The Pope washes the feet of juvenile offenders, including Muslim women, as part of Holy Thursday rituals on March 28, 2013. The act commemorates Jesus' washing of the Apostles' feet during the Last Supper. 
Francis stands at the reception desk of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI residence, where he paid the bill for his stay during the conclave that would elect him leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. 
Francis, formerly known as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected the Roman Catholic Church's 266th Pope on March 13, 2013. The first pontiff from Latin America was also the first to take the name Francis. - Legalizing drug use is a bad idea, Pope Francis says
- "There can be no yielding or compromise" to the evil of drugs, he says
- Public sentiment isn't with him; most Americans at least now favor legalization
- Uruguay recently legalized marijuana, and Jamaica is set to decriminalize it soon
(CNN) -- Are you stoned?
That's the message Pope Francis seemed to be sending lawmakers Friday, saying the growing worldwide trend toward legalizing recreational drugs is a very, very bad idea.
"Drug addiction is an evil, and with evil there can be no yielding or compromise," he told participants at the International Drug Enforcement Conference in Rome.
The Pope's call isn't shocking. Francis has spoken of the dangers of drug use before.
Rock star Pope shakes up the VaticanBut it lends his voice and the authority of the Catholic Church to the growing worldwide debate over legalizing or at least decriminalizing some recreational drugs, most notably marijuana.
Two U.S. states -- Colorado and Washington -- have made marijuana use legal, and several other states, cities and countries have decriminalized its use or have announced plans to do so.
Uruguay passed a law in December to create a regulated marijuana marketplace. Jamaican officials said this month that they plan to modify that nation's laws to decriminalize pot use and possession.
And public opinion has rapidly shifted toward softer policies on marijuana use, particularly.
In January, a CNN/ORC International survey found that 55% of respondents wanted to see marijuana made legal. That's up from 16% in 1987, according to the CNN poll and numbers from the General Social Survey.
But Francis said such policies are "not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint, but they fail to produce the desired effects."
"To think that harm can be reduced by permitting drug addicts to use narcotics in no way resolves the problem," he said.
Could pot push voters to the polls this fall?
Gupta: 'I am doubling down' on medical marijuana
CNN's Hada Messia contributed to this report.
Source : http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/20/justice/pope-francis-legalized-drugs/
