Seminarians and religious men and women need well-rounded formation throughout their lives, not only at the onset of their religious training, Pope Francis said.

For the rector of the world’s second largest church after St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, May 11 will be a day of celebrating the inauguration of the southern facade’s mosaics, all created by Father Marko Rupik.

The collaboration of laity and priests in the life of a parish and in outreach to the surrounding community “is not a strategy,” but the result of taking the sacraments of baptism and confirmation seriously rather than allowing it to remain “a beautiful principle, a virtuous and pious intention,” a Canadian theologian told hundreds of pastors.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced new regulations April 26 that restore Obama-era protections for patients who identify as transgender that the Trump administration rolled back in 2020. The new rule follows another controversial rule adding gender identity to Title IX protections.

Catholic groups in Peru have been planning their reaction to two cases involving judicial authorizations for euthanasia in the South American nation. They argue the country’s law doesn’t allow such procedures and hope to halt what they see as a surreptitious process to advance a pro-death agenda.

Pope Francis urged the future pastors of “empty Spain,” the Spanish regions known for their historical richness but currently facing depopulation and economic challenges, to remember that “Jesus wants me in these empty lands to fill them with God.”

Catholic agencies, along with other Christian charities in Sudan, have intensified their food distribution campaign across the country to save hundreds of thousands of suffering Sudanese people from extreme hunger as the civil war entered its second year.

Pope Francis will celebrate the vigil of Pentecost in Verona, Italy, the setting for Shakespeare’s play, “Romeo and Juliet.”

Parishioners in several Midwestern states are coming together to bring help and healing after tornadoes ravaged the area April 26-28, killing at least four.

Amid severe floods, a leading Catholic archbishop in Kenya appealed for humanitarian support to aid thousands of displaced people, as he expressed the church’s closeness to the affected populations.