Places that serve as “oases of encounter” are needed today so that visitors can be inspired to live wisely and well, Pope Francis told representatives of a Buddhist organization.

Planning an ecumenical prayer vigil for the Catholic Church’s Synod of Bishops and making a commitment to participating in it is an expression of “an ecumenism of solidarity,” said the Rev. Anne-Laure Danet, ecumenical officer for the French Protestant Federation.

The aesthetic and artistic elements surrounding the liturgy must foster prayer and a sense of communion, Pope Francis said.

Being an apostle does not mean climbing up the church’s hierarchy to look down on others but humbling oneself in a spirit of service, Pope Francis said.

U.S. Catholics should urge their lawmakers to continue to help the people of Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion of their country, Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia told attendees of the 18th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast March 14.

After the failures of two banks in March, the U.S. government has taken steps to prevent similar failures and the risks such failures would present to the economy.

Pope Francis has brought a fresh perspective to established Catholic teaching, panelists said March 13 at an event hosted by Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life to mark the pontiff’s 10th anniversary.

For the biographer of Pope Francis, 10 years into the current papacy, “the church is in a very different place,” with “less anger and defensiveness.” Commentators add that Pope Francis is a pope “who is not afraid to spark controversy” and are certain he’s a “daring” pope “full of surprises.”

In a legislative development that has drawn concern from both Catholic and labor leaders, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, R-Ark., signed into law March 8 the Youth Hiring Act of 2023, which eliminates state age verification for children younger than 16 seeking a job.

Many of the 40 international trips Pope Francis has made over the past 10 years have been to countries where Christians are a minority or where he can draw close to people on the fringes of the world’s attention.