The COVID-19 pandemic not only caused a one-year delay in holding the World Meeting of Families, it also prompted a look at new ways to involve Catholic families from around the world and to ensure that they take the lead in ministering to each other.

People must help one another and counteract the temptation of evil that deceives them into thinking conflict can be resolved by violence and war, Pope Francis told a delegation from B’nai B’rith International.

The world urgently needs dialogue that promotes a culture of peace and nonviolence, and concrete efforts aimed toward that end, Pope Francis said.

Any Catholic who participates in the celebration July 24 of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly can receive a plenary indulgence, the Vatican announced.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, former Vatican secretary of state and former dean of the College of Cardinals, died in Rome May 27 at the age of 94.

Pope Francis announced he will create 21 new cardinals Aug. 27, including 68-year-old Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego, California.

Pope Francis and Ukrainian families in Rome will gather May 31 before a statue of Mary, Queen of Peace, to recite the rosary for peace in Ukraine and in other places at war.

Saying his heart was broken at the news of at least 19 children and two adults being shot and killed at a Texas elementary school, Pope Francis said it was time to say “Enough!” and enact stricter laws on gun sales.

The president of the Polish bishops’ conference criticized the Vatican’s “naive and utopian” attitude to the war in Ukraine and urged Rome to show “greater maturity” in attitudes toward Russia.

Pope Francis has cleared the way for the canonization of Blessed Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, founder of the Scalabrinian missionaries, dispensing the requirement of a miracle attributed to his intercession, the Vatican announced.