Death, even that of a pope, should not be seen as a tragedy but as a transition filled with Christian hope, the preacher of the papal household told members of the Roman Curia.

As Pope Francis prepared to spend the 12th anniversary of his election at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, people at the Vatican and around the world were responding to his most frequent personal request.

The Supreme Court said March 10 that it will hear a First Amendment challenge to a Colorado law banning professional counseling services that practice “conversion therapy” for minors, efforts intended to change one’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

Pope Francis is no longer considered in imminent danger from his lung infection, but he will remain in Rome’s Gemelli hospital for several more days to continue receiving medical treatment, the Vatican said.

Belmont Abbey College has announced plans to expand its footprint in the nation’s capital in a project aimed to amplify faithful Catholic voices in media, politics and culture.

It’s been 500 days since the Oct. 27, 2023, papal lifting of the statute of limitations in the case of Father Marko Rupnik, the Slovenian ex-Jesuit who has been accused of spiritual and sexual abuse by at least 20 women, and developments are ongoing.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said March 10 that just 18 percent of programs of the now-shuttered U.S. Agency for International Development will remain intact, and those will now fall under his purview at the State Department.

Syria’s top Christian leaders have condemned the killing and wounding of hundreds of Alawites, many of them civilians, by security forces and gunmen linked to the country’s new Islamist rulers.

In February, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order pledging his administration’s support for in vitro fertilization, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Medical Association and other groups issued statements opposing the move, highlighting the many ethical problems with IVF.

With Pope Francis watching from the hospital, the preacher of the papal household told top members of the Roman Curia that eternity “is not just a future reward but a reality that begins here, in the measure in which we learn to live in love and communion with Christ.”