Pope Francis has expressed his gratitude for the outpouring of prayers from all over the world, said Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, who has visited the pope twice in the hospital.

The Supreme Court on March 5 rejected the Trump administration’s request to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments, directing the White House to abide by a lower court order. Catholic nongovernmental organizations are among those impacted by the freeze.

The journey of Lent “unfolds amid the remembrance of our fragility and the hope that, at the end of the road, the Risen Lord is waiting for us,” Pope Francis wrote in his homily for Ash Wednesday.

Aid to the Church in Need’s call to the faithful to reflect this Lenten season on the persecution of Christians has taken on more urgency with the news that a Nigerian priest was found murdered on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.

Despite her distress at losing the 12-year-old Jesus, Mary’s search for her son is a model of every Christian’s journey to deepen their relationship with Christ, Pope Francis said in a prepared message.

The Polish prelate, who heads the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Service of Charity, is the pope’s point man for distributing alms to the poor and needy — those that Francis put at the center of his papacy. Cardinal Krajewski led the rosary March 2.

President Donald Trump touted the “swift and unrelenting action” taken by his second administration in its first six weeks, telling lawmakers March 4 in an address to a joint session of Congress he was “just getting started.”

The best medicine to heal the pain of a wounded family is forgiveness, Pope Francis said.

A Connecticut priest has been placed on administrative leave for allegedly misappropriating parish funds for personal use, with the priest denying the charges and the news prompting protests from a number of stunned faithful.

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis said an investigation of an alleged eucharistic miracle is underway at a southeast Indiana church where it reportedly took place in late February.