Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of Father Emil J. Kapaun, a U.S. Army chaplain who gave his life ministering to fellow soldiers in a North Korean prison camp.

Even after Pope Francis’ doctors said he was showing slight signs of improvement and the Vatican reported that he had met in the hospital with top aides to do some work, questions persisted about the possibility of his resignation.

A “silent genocide” — mimicking the Rwandan one of 1994 — is occurring eastern Congo, said some Catholic Church sources, as shock greeted the killing of 70 people in a Protestant church in the North Kivu Province.

In a sign affirming that Pope Francis has been able to conduct work while in the hospital, the Vatican said the pope had met with the top officials of the Vatican Secretariat of State and had signed several decrees in sainthood causes.

A light drizzle finally let up as hundreds of faithful headed to St. Peter’s Square to pray the rosary for Pope Francis on the 11th day of his hospitalization for double pneumonia.

As Ukraine marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishops are affirming Ukrainians’ belief in “the triumph of God’s truth” — and the recognition that “true peace cannot exist without justice.”

The U.S. bishops’ Feb. 18 lawsuit against the federal government for abrupt and sweeping changes to refugee resettlement funding, and the bishops’ Feb. 20 admonition of President Donald Trump’s executive order aiming to expand access to in vitro fertilization underscore the ongoing friction between the nation’s Catholic leaders and its 47th president in his first month since reassuming office.

The U.S. Supreme Court Feb. 24 considered the case of a Texas death-row inmate who is seeking to obtain post-conviction DNA testing on evidence that he claims would show he did not directly participate in a 1998 murder and lead to the repeal of his death sentence.

The morning after Pope Francis’ doctors said that he remained in “critical” condition and showed initial signs of renal insufficiency, the Vatican press office said the pope was in “good spirits” and continuing his treatment.

The U.S. bishops urged the faithful to join in on a call from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin to pray the rosary for Pope Francis Feb. 24 as he remains hospitalized.