The Israeli Embassy to the Holy See has defined as “regrettable” remarks by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, saying that Israel’s attacks on Gaza have been excessive.

The vice of “acedia,” often translated as “sloth,” can cause laziness, but it is much more than that; it is a lack of caring for anything and being bored with everything, even one’s relationship with God, Pope Francis said.

The Albanian cardinal who endured decades of imprisonment, torture and forced labor during his country’s crackdown against religion is a “living martyr” who continues to serve Christ at 95 years old, Pope Francis said.

The Senate passed an approximately $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, following months of a stalemate amid growing divisions within the Republican Party over the role of the United States on the global stage.

Monsignor Kieran Harrington, a priest of the Brooklyn Diocese, has resigned from his post as the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States after an allegation against him of “inappropriate conduct with an adult” was substantiated, the Diocese of Brooklyn announced.

Soon after the aerial images recorded the devastation caused by wildfires in the province of Valparaíso and other regions of south-central Chile since Feb. 2, local authorities and international agencies have multiplied their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the communities where fatalities, missing persons and material losses increase with each passing day.

An annual Lenten collection taken up by Catholics across the U.S. provides “life-changing hope,” said Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of Philadelphia, chair of the board of Catholic Relief Services.

Kansas City Chiefs fans are looking forward to a Super Bowl victory parade Feb. 14 — but for Catholics, who mark Ash Wednesday that same day, “first place always goes to the Lord Jesus and what he’s done,” said Bishop James V. Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo.

Catholic couples and liturgical experts are advising how to observe Ash Wednesday — the beginning of the Latin Church’s penitential season of Lent leading up to Easter — which falls on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, this year.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert P. Deeley of Portland, Maine, and appointed as his successor Father James T. Ruggieri, a pastor in the Diocese of Providence, R.I.