In a church and a world divided and fractured, priests are called to be witnesses of God’s love and forgiveness, which reconciles people and makes them one community, Pope Leo XIV told new priests.

A May 15 discussion of the Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America in Washington offered immediate insight with its title, “Transhumanism: The Last Heresy?”

It was a young nun named Margaret Mary Alacoque of the Visitation order at Paray-le-Monial, France, who would become Jesus’ conduit to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart throughout the Roman Church.

Workers spent about two weeks planting and rearranging evergreens, flowers and plants to complete a gigantic botanical reproduction of Pope Leo’s shield on the sloped lawn in front of the Vatican’s governing office.

Missionaries of Mercy are priests given faculties to absolve penitents of certain sins which are otherwise reserved to the Holy Father to absolve, due to their seriousness. These include the profanation of the Eucharist and the direct violation of the sacramental seal by a priest hearing a confession.

The pilgrims’ 10-state route includes daily stops at parishes and other Catholic institutions for Mass, Eucharistic adoration, service and fellowship.

The Henkels are the founders of Springs of Love, a ministry dedicated to raising up more Catholic foster and adoptive families and to supporting those involved through educational programming, small groups and parish care teams.

Catholic bishops in Kenya are demanding a full investigation into the suspicious deaths of two priests within days of each other, calling the incidents deeply disturbing.

Catholic immigration advocates are expressing their concern after the Trump administration apparently deported several immigrants without permanent legal status to East Africa — despite a court order restricting the government from deporting people to nations that are not their countries of origin.

Scotland has seen a dramatic rise in abortions involving Down syndrome diagnoses, with government figures showing an 82 percent increase since 2021.