The first commissioned bust of Pope Leo XIV by famed Catholic sculptor Timothy Schmalz was installed in Chicago Feb. 22 at Catholic Theological Union, the graduate theology school where the pope is an alumnus. The bust is one of only three Pope Leo sculptures by Schmalz, so far. They are all located in the Americas.

Church governance depends more on holy, prayerful leaders than on bureaucratic expertise, Norwegian Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim said during the Roman Curia’s Lenten retreat.

Eight hundred years after his death, the bones of St. Francis of Assisi have been placed on public display for the first extended public viewing in history, drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to the hilltop town.

The text of Pope Leo XIV’s introduction to his book “Peace Be with You!” published by HarperCollins and available in bookstores in the United States and English-speaking countries starting Feb. 24.

A statue of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint, will be put in a public park on Chicago’s Near West Side. It will replace a Christopher Columbus statue that was removed during the pandemic.

A Catholic legal network and other opponents of the Trump administration’s suspension of immigration from 75 countries are calling into question a key claim the government made in support of that policy.

Here are 12 new resources — online retreats, apps, podcasts, books and more — that promise to help Catholics grow in faith and draw closer to the Lord Jesus Christ ahead of Easter.

As Lent begins in Jerusalem, the usually crowded streets of the Old City remain quiet, with only a small number of international pilgrims returning after years of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Israel-Hamas war.

Catholic theologian and prolific writer Thomas “Paul” Thigpen died Feb. 24 at the age of 71. A resident of Kennesaw, Georgia, he wrote more than 60 books and hundreds of articles on religion and faith.

A pro-abortion University of Notre Dame professor has declined a research appointment at the school, following weeks of outcry from students, staff and several U.S. Catholic bishops.