the North American Synod Team, led by bishops from Canada and the United States, wrapped up a weeklong retreat in Orlando, Fla., to synthesize the results of synod listening sessions throughout the two countries.

A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis asked, “Can the Lord forgive so many crimes and so much violence? He is the God of peace.”

“It is very sad to see the church as if it were a parliament,” which is what happens when Catholics rely more on their personal opinions than on the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said.

Amid the “dark hour” besetting Nicaragua — with the imprisonment of a bishop, the expulsion of over 200 political prisoners and ongoing human rights violations — Nicaraguans’ “courageous hope, charity and solidarity are bearing witness” to their enduring faith, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Diocesan bishops must have Vatican authorization to allow the celebration of the pre-Vatican II Mass in a parish church, to establish a new “personal parish” for devotees of the old Mass or to allow its celebration by a priest ordained after July 2021 when Pope Francis issued rules restricting the celebration, he said.

Mark Houck, a pro-life activist and leader of The King’s Men, a nationwide Catholic men’s ministry, stood before 1,200 Catholic men Feb. 18 at a conference at East Central High School in St. Leon in southeastern Indiana.

The church is called to pray, preach the Gospel and be attentive to God’s word in all circumstances, but even more so in the time of war, explained both the Vatican’s ambassador to the United Nations and the U.S. archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

A new earthquake struck the border area between Turkey and Syria the night of Feb. 20, sparking fear and anxiety for people already bereft and for those helping them since the Feb. 6 temblor. Six people were reported killed in the new quake.

With the first anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine just days away, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church spoke about gratitude and powerlessness in the face of a “blind, absurd, sacrilegious war.”

On Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, faithful across the country are being asked to donate to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.