The head of the German bishops’ conference responded to an open letter from more than 70 bishops from four continents and expressed surprise at some of what they said — and did not say.

Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington venerated the cross of Jesus and urged the faithful to “consider carefully the impact that capital punishment has on us as a society.”

The joy of Christ’s resurrection is needed now more than ever in a time when war in Ukraine and other parts of the world makes the hope for peace seem like an illusion, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.

he joy of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead gives joy and strength to those who are called to bring peace, reconciliation and justice to the suffering and the downtrodden, Pope Francis said.

Mass graves and the deceased still lying along the roadside became a kind of “Way of the Cross” where Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, stopped and prayed.

Jesus invites everyone to repent and to turn swords into plowshares and missiles into factories and homes, the papal preacher said.

Before washing the feet of 12 inmates, Pope Francis told them and other prisoners that God never tires of forgiving anyone who asks.

The Catholic Church in Europe and other places will, as retired Pope Benedict XVI had said, be smaller and less influential, but the church’s mission and joy is not to increase numbers but to share the Gospel, Pope Francis told Jesuits in Malta.

For many U.S. dioceses, this year marked the first chrism Mass to draw a capacity crowd of congregants since before the pandemic. For the last two years, COVID-19 turned most in-person liturgies into livestreamed events.

With some 1,800 priests concelebrating and renewing the promises made at their ordinations, Pope Francis celebrated the chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica April 14.