Nearly 100 candidates and catechumens across the Erie Diocese welcomed into the church at the vigil — a scene repeated in dioceses and archdioceses across the nation.

To understand how Catholics are responding to water pollution in their communities, OSV News spoke with advocates and agencies in Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Flint, Mich. — all cities which have had or continue to experience clean water issues.

Arek Szura, fulfilled his promise to God, donning work gloves and kneepads to shuffle and crawl the 10 blocks from his home to St. Adalbert Church, part of St. John Paul II Parish and home to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Polish Apostolate.

Shelter-in-place orders were issued April 13 at two Catholic universities in Washington, with all-clears declared shortly thereafter, as part of an apparent wave of false threats made against schools throughout the nation the same day and in recent weeks.

The Jesuit priest who helped produce “The Pope’s Exorcist” said horror movie fans will be in for “a fun ride” with the new film that stars Russell Crowe.

Divine Mercy Sunday opens the “floodgates of mercy” for all through the sacraments of confession and holy Communion, said a priest renowned for promoting the liturgical feast and its accompanying devotion.

St. John Paul II’s longtime aide denied the “vile insinuations” that the former pope was maliciously involved in the case of Emanuela Orlandi, a Vatican schoolgirl whose 1983 disappearance is the focus of an ongoing Vatican investigation.

Florida lawmakers and the state’s Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to launch his bid for the Republican presidential nomination soon, approved a bill April 13 to ban abortions after six weeks.

Despite declining numbers and sometimes a lack of appreciation from clergy, women religious are called to be courageous like the women disciples who discovered Jesus’ empty tomb and rushed off to share the news of his resurrection, Pope Francis said.

A federal appeals court April 12 froze portions of a federal judge’s ruling suspending the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a medication abortion pill, ruling that the drug can remain on the market but under more strict regulations while a challenge to it plays out.