Pope Francis has decided that some of the most controversial issues raised at the first assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality will be examined by study groups that will work beyond the synod’s final assembly in October.

Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of U.S. Sister Rose Hawthorne, the daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and he recognized the martyrdom of a German priest executed by the Nazis and a German nun and her 14 companions who were raped and murdered by Russian soldiers during World War II.

A bishop in Jerusalem has appealed for Christians to start returning to the Holy Land on pilgrimage, insisting they should visit holy places located within Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

A pope’s ministry is meant to last his lifetime, Pope Francis said, and, at least until now, he has not considered resigning.

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Va., expressed “great sorrow” after the body of an unborn baby was found in a pond in Leesburg, Virginia, on March 11. He called on the faithful to pray for everyone involved in the incident, offered burial services and also drew attention to the resources the diocese offers to women in crisis pregnancies.

Synodality is a key theme of Pope Francis’ pontificate and its importance to the church’s mission can be seen in the American church’s response to policy issues including migration, said experts in a Georgetown University panel discussion marking the pontiff’s 11th anniversary.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is offering a March 10-18 novena to the foster father of Jesus, ahead of the saint’s March 19 feast day.

Three Egyptian Coptic monks of the Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of South Africa were murdered March 12 in their monastery in Cullinan, a small town in Gauteng province, about 18 miles east of the capital, Pretoria.

A federal judge March 8 dismissed a challenge from Republican-led states, allowing the Biden administration to continue operating a program permitting some migrants from four countries to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.

The Catholic Church should hold a Synod of Bishops devoted exclusively to defining just war, just defense and just peace, said the president of the Institute of Religion and Society at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv.