Pope Francis’ condemnations of the threat of nuclear war are “indispensable,” said the head of the U.N. nuclear energy agency.

Auxiliary Bishop Sobilo of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia said that despite worsening conditions following Christmas and the start of the new year, the people in war-torn eastern Ukraine are determined to fight on.

Catholic organizations in California, strengthened by years of responding to disasters in the Golden State, responded quickly to bring aid to those affected by the ongoing brutal winter storms.

Each year, some 3 million pilgrims — many with terminal medical conditions — visit the shrine in southwestern France, site of 18 Marian apparitions to St. Bernadette Soubirous, who was a young teenager in poverty and could neither read nor write at the time.

Catholic leaders in Illinois are hailing the state’s newly enacted ban on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and switches.

To understand the Gospel, its beauty and its power, people need to read it, Pope Francis said.

Catholics see hope that bipartisanship in Congress may save a valuable tool in the fight against poverty and even abortion.

The U.S. House of Representatives Jan. 11 passed two pro-life measures, however neither has a clear path through the U.S. Senate to become law.

Peru’s bishops have called on the country’s government to stop violence that claimed at least 18 lives in anti-government protests Jan. 9-10 and has left more than 40 people dead and hundreds injured since early December.

Jonathan Roumie, known for his role as “Jesus” in the television series The Chosen, and other Catholic speakers are in the lineup for this year’s 50th annual national March for Life on Jan. 20.