At the request of Pope Francis, three Jesuit-run institutions of higher learning in Rome — the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Oriental Institute — will formally become one university in May.

Pope Francis called for the release of two religious brothers, members of the Congregation of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, who are still being held hostage in Haiti.

The United States established formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See 40 years ago, and the current ambassador in Rome says its mission has been a wonderful success.

Pope Francis has named Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera to be secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and Teresa Kettelkamp to serve as adjunct secretary.

Hope “is the opposite of impatience, of haste, of ‘everything immediately.’ It is the antidote to discouragement. It keeps yearning alive,” Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa told Pope Francis and members of the Roman Curia during a Lenten meditation in the Paul VI Audience Hall March 15.

Faced with decades of rising secularism, the Catholic Church must invest in families and in strengthening other forms of community to transmit the faith, Pope Francis said.

The world’s cultures, traditions, spiritualities and languages must be acknowledged, respected and protected, especially those of Indigenous peoples, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis has decided that some of the most controversial issues raised at the first assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality will be examined by study groups that will work beyond the synod’s final assembly in October.

A pope’s ministry is meant to last his lifetime, Pope Francis said, and, at least until now, he has not considered resigning.

Synodality is a key theme of Pope Francis’ pontificate and its importance to the church’s mission can be seen in the American church’s response to policy issues including migration, said experts in a Georgetown University panel discussion marking the pontiff’s 11th anniversary.