As the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation this past year, hospital chaplains — already accustomed to helping people cope with sickness and death — found their ministries took on added significance.

Two days after the desecration of 16 statues on the grounds of the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Youngstown, parishioners who were gathered for Mass Feb. 28 expressed deep sorrow but also forgiveness for the perpetrator.

Attorneys for doctors and hospitals argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit March 3 that they shouldn’t be forced to perform gender-transition surgeries required under the Affordable Care Act, stressing this is an issue of conscience.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken an emotional toll on Americans, with mental health professionals reporting they are getting more requests for assistance from people feeling helpless and experiencing anxiety and depression.

The Catholic Church’s commitment to dialogue with other churches and with other religions flows from the Gospel, but Pope Francis said he knows some Catholics disagree.

Having witnessed or even experienced persecution for their faith, the Christians of Iraq must be careful not to harbor thoughts of revenge, Pope Francis told them.

Amid the rubble and bombed out remains of four churches destroyed by Islamic State militants, Pope Francis paid tribute to Iraqi Christians who endured persecution and even death.

Pope Francis told Iraqi Christians that when they suffer discrimination, persecution or war, the Eight Beatitudes are addressed to them.

Traveling to the birthplace of Abraham, Pope Francis urged believers to prove their faith in the one God and father of all by accepting one another as brothers and sisters.

In a low-key meeting followed closely in Iraq and beyond, Pope Francis and Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential leader of Shiite Muslims in Iraq, spent 45 minutes speaking privately.