As Lent begins in Jerusalem, the usually crowded streets of the Old City remain quiet, with only a small number of international pilgrims returning after years of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Israel-Hamas war.

Catholic theologian and prolific writer Thomas “Paul” Thigpen died Feb. 24 at the age of 71. A resident of Kennesaw, Georgia, he wrote more than 60 books and hundreds of articles on religion and faith.

A pro-abortion University of Notre Dame professor has declined a research appointment at the school, following weeks of outcry from students, staff and several U.S. Catholic bishops.

Pope Leo XIV has pointed to Our Lady of Guadalupe as the model of “perfect inculturation” as Mexico prepares to mark the 500th anniversary of the apparition in 2031 with a jubilee year.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has ended its lawsuit against the Trump administration over the suspension of a long-running refugee resettlement contract, with monies owed to the USCCB now recovered.

They were preparing for three days of presence and legislative testimony as they seek gun safety laws. The desks represented more than 200 Minnesota children lost to gun violence since 2021, the group said.

Lawyers for the state of Louisiana asked a federal judge to roll back Biden administration-era eased restrictions on mifepristone, a drug commonly, but not exclusively, used for most first trimester abortions, at a hearing Feb. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Pope Leo XIV will travel to six countries over the next four months, including a 10-day tour of Africa and trips to Monaco and Spain, the Vatican announced Feb. 25.

The executive commission of the Spanish bishops’ conference clarified a recent report that alleged Pope Leo XIV had warned about attempts by far-right political parties in the country to “weaponize the Church.”

Two weeks after calling on the University of Notre Dame to withdraw its appointment of pro-abortion professor Susan Ostermann as head of one of the school’s research centers, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend joined students to pray for life at the university’s Marian grotto.