Reflecting themes he has emphasized throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis participated Feb. 24 in a webinar with university students from North, Central and South America to discuss Building Bridges North-South.

Ambassadors to the Holy See, priests, religious and laity packed Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere to overflowing Feb. 24, pleading to God for peace in Ukraine.

Women religious in Ukraine are facing Russia’s full-scale invasion of that nation with determined faith and a commitment to service.

As war broke out in Europe Feb. 24, with Russia’s early morning attacks on various parts of Ukraine, Catholics in the U.S. joined Pope Francis in prayers for the people of the East European nation and for peace.

Despite Russia’s decision to begin military operations in Ukraine, there still is time to stop and “spare the world from the folly and horrors of war,” said the Vatican secretary of state.

As Russia fired missiles on several Ukrainian cities and Russian troops reportedly landed in Odessa, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church affirmed the right of Ukrainians to defend their homeland and assured his people that God would watch over them.

Dr. Paul Farmer, a Catholic physician who helped found a network of clinics serving the rural poor in Haiti and Rwanda, died in his sleep Feb. 21 on the grounds of a clinic he had founded in Butaro. He was 62.

As the threat of war loomed over the world, Pope Francis called on people to pray and fast for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday.

With the “further escalation of tension in Ukraine,” the president of the Polish bishops’ conference asked Polish Catholics to continue praying for peace, but also to be prepared to welcome Ukrainian refugees.

Colombia’s bishops expressed “perplexity and deep pain” after the country’s constitutional court decriminalized abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.