At the end of his general audience in St. Peter’s Square March 8, International Women’s Day, Pope Francis led a round of applause for women.

Five women who said they were denied abortions under Texas law despite pregnancy complications filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s abortion ban, while pro-life leaders defended the law, saying it already takes into account life-threatening situations.

If Jews, Christians and Muslims truly recognize Jerusalem as a sacred city, their desire for the city to be at peace must come before any political claim on its territory, Pope Francis said.

Taking in and welcoming others must be done without expecting anything from them in return, Pope Francis said.

A new study cites trusted relationships with parish priests as a deciding factor in cultivating vocations and reducing the priest-to-parishioner ratio as essential for making such encounters possible.

A bill that would ban local jurisdictions in New Mexico from restricting abortion was approved by state lawmakers March 7, as the state seeks to block such ordinances by some communities in rural parts of the state.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson sparked bipartisan controversy on Capitol Hill after a March 6 package on his program “Tucker Carlson Tonight” depicted the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot as “mostly peaceful chaos.” Catholic political observers called the package a false portrayal of the day’s events.

Marking the first anniversary of the Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and praying that God will “have mercy and save us” and “convert those who foster aggression and war,” Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory and Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak, the Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia, led a March 7 ecumenical prayer service for peace at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

The Biden administration is reportedly weighing whether to reinstate a policy of detaining migrant families who cross the border without authorization, a practice President Joe Biden condemned and ended when he took office. Catholic immigration advocates have vocally opposed the policy as well.

The mission to spread the Gospel message of God’s love and of salvation in Christ is entrusted to all the baptized who are called to work together and never set out alone, Pope Francis said.