Amid the escalating chaos of another war in the Middle East, Benedictine Father Nikodemus Schnabel said the abbey where he resides has become an “island of hope in an ocean of suffering” where even people of different faiths have found refuge.

Days after a meeting among several Catholic bishops serving along both sides of the Texas-Mexico border — a regular gathering for the “Tex-Mex” bishops — OSV News spoke with Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio to explore his thoughts on the impact of the Trump administration’s sustained crackdown on migration.

Katie Holler, a social worker from Steubenville, Ohio, launched the Dorothea Project, a women’s action and advocacy group dedicated to educating the public about Catholic social teaching, with the mission of empowering communities “to speak truth and act in defense of vulnerable people whenever human rights and human dignity are violated.”

The Vatican Museums announced that restoration work has begun on Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgement” in the Sistine Chapel, a fresco an art historian describes as “a clarion call to the cardinals of what it means to be Catholic.”

Pope Leo XIV met two sociologists on March 5 who have co-authored a book on Catholics who attend the traditional Latin Mass in the United States.

Catholic immigration advocates are calling for change at the Department of Homeland Security after President Donald Trump announced March 5 that Kristi Noem is leaving her post. President Trump announced that he had chosen Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to replace her as secretary.

Pope Leo XIV prayed for world leaders to “abandon projects of death” in a video message released by the Vatican on March 5 calling on people around the world to pray for peace.

The Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon issued a statement March 5 in which they called “for an immediate halt to the spiral of violence” currently taking place in the Middle East and urged “a return to constructive dialogue and responsible diplomatic action, grounded in the pursuit of the common good of peoples who long for a peaceful life founded on justice and dignity.”

Catholic bishops in Sudan and South Sudan have expressed distress at the brutal killing of nearly 178 people in northern South Sudan on March 2.

As conflict flares across the Middle East following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, the country’s exiled Christians remain deeply anxious about the future.