As U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan announced on Feb. 12 plans for federal agents to leave the Twin Cities metro area, Catholic leaders in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis acknowledged the need for hope as they look to next steps in the local community.

The Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y., has announced it will enter into mediation to resolve some 1,100 sexual abuse claims.

Emily and her husband, Daniel Hussem, are introducing a new Catholic dating and matchmaking app called SacredSpark that is becoming available in the United States one diocese at a time. Later this year, they plan for the app to go international.

Catholics in the U.S. are sharing their gratitude for Venerable Fulton J. Sheen following the announcement Feb. 9 that the Vatican has permitted the cause of the late American archbishop and televangelist to proceed to beatification, the final step before canonization.

Recent court cases involving pro-life activists at abortion clinics, an immigration protest inside a Minnesota church and a new application of a 1994 federal law, the FACE Act, show how legal realities have changed in one year.

“The pope is dead.” These words will dramatically ring out across Olympic ice as Italian figure skater Daniel Grassl begins his long program to music from the movie “Conclave” in the men’s figure skating final event Feb. 13, which will determine who stands on the podium at the Milan Cortina Games.

All Catholics are called to stand together by reaching out to their brothers and sisters in the faith of all ethnicities, especially those of Hispanic heritage, Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Ore., said.

The Vatican’s doctrine chief proposed a path of theological dialogue with the Society of St. Pius X, the traditionalist Catholic group threatening to defy Rome by ordaining bishops without papal approval, during a meeting at the Vatican on Feb. 12.

The bishops of Cuba have postponed their planned “ad limina” visit to Rome after government authorities announced that airlines could no longer refuel due to U.S. tariff threats against countries supplying oil to the island nation.

New Jersey-based rock legend Bruce Springsteen and Bishop David M. O’Connell of Trenton got together recently for an impromptu lunch in Federici’s Restaurant in Freehold.