Ordained as “transitional deacons,” the clergymen will continue on the path to the priesthood, with their priestly ordination expected next year.

Pope Francis’ apostolic letter and announcement of the Year of St. Joseph inspired Alvarado Flores, who wanted to create a song to venerate a saint for whom he holds special admiration.

The priest encouraged them to pray the rosary, to revere the Eucharist and to rise above divisions. Struggling to find the words, he continued, “I wish I could stay a little longer, and maybe I will, but you are going to be the future, and I think liberal, conservative, it’s not that so much. It’s about having faith. Having faith in God.

Under the gaze of a seventh-century icon of Mary, Pope Francis launched a monthlong, global recitation of the rosary, pleading for Mary’s intercession for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The priesthood “is not a career, it is a service,” Pope Francis told nine men just before ordaining them to the priesthood for the Diocese of Rome.

Archbishop William E. Lori is encouraging Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore to dedicate some time during National Child Abuse Prevention Month to pray for victim-survivors of abuse.

As the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation this past year, hospital chaplains — already accustomed to helping people cope with sickness and death — found their ministries took on added significance.

The Catholic Church’s commitment to dialogue with other churches and with other religions flows from the Gospel, but Pope Francis said he knows some Catholics disagree.

Traveling to the birthplace of Abraham, Pope Francis urged believers to prove their faith in the one God and father of all by accepting one another as brothers and sisters.

“This suffering on a daily basis takes an emotional toll, ” said Sandra Michocki, a chaplain at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. “In order for it not to swallow us,” she said, chaplains have to remember that God is always with them and “when we’re weary or we’re tired, we show up anyway; that’s all we can do.”