The day after Pope Francis paid a brief visit to Rome’s Gemelli Isola Hospital for “diagnostic tests,” he had a full morning of audiences, including a meeting with bishops from Italy’s Emilia Romagna region making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican.

Rev. Hood said he and the other witnesses “were very under-informed, very underprepared” for the execution method.

Entering the third year of war several church institutions wrapped their aid effort in “two years of war” reports, showing that millions of people have been saved thanks to the Catholic Church.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Feb. 26 in cases challenging the constitutionality of laws in Florida and Texas that seek to limit the ability of social media companies to moderate content on their platforms.

Pope Francis paid a brief visit to Rome’s Gemelli Isola Hospital Feb. 28 for “diagnostic tests,” the Vatican press office said, without providing specifics.

Arriving in a wheelchair instead of walking with his cane, Pope Francis began his weekly general audience by telling visitors and pilgrims, “I’m still a bit sick,” so an aide would read his prepared text.

Christians who never renounce their love for Christ and are faithful to the point of death are a blessing for everyone, Pope Francis said.

After participating in a seminar on the Catholic Church and the Freemasons, an Italian bishop reaffirmed that Catholics who belong to Masonic lodges are in a “serious state of sin” and cannot receive Communion.

As the wave of violence torments gang-decimated Haiti, six male religious, a lay teacher and a priest were kidnapped in two separate incidents Feb. 23 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.

This Lent, Christians should become “seekers of light” by keeping their sights set on the light of Jesus through prayer and participating in the sacraments, Pope Francis said.