Israeli authorities closed Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher as part of wider closures for security concerns, beginning Feb. 28, when Israel and the United States launched attacks against Iran.

Pope Leo XIV, who graduated from the lower school of St. Mary of the Assumption on the city’s South Side in 1969, greeted and reminisced with 10 of his 82 former classmates after the general audience in St. Peter’s Square March 18.

Pope Leo XIV received King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace March 20, ahead of a solemn ceremony in which the Spanish king renewed a centuries-old bond with the Basilica of St. Mary Major by taking possession of his hereditary title as its protocanon.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defended the role of religion in public life during comments March 19 at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington.

After the Rite of Election, the catechumens are called “the elect” until they are baptized at the Easter Vigil Mass.

President Donald Trump issued two messages marking prominent Catholic feast days, the feast of St. Joseph on March 19 and St. Patrick’s Day on March 17.

Catholic universities have quietly taken over March Madness, blending history, talent, and the kind of coaching that shapes every game into an unpredictable contest.

Religious leaders and pro-life advocates are raising alarms about changes to abortion laws in Britain after the House of Lords advanced legislation that would remove penalties for women who terminate their pregnancies.

Pope Leo XIV announced March 19 that he is asking the presidents of all bishops’ conferences around the world to convene in Rome in October to renew and deepen the Church’s discussion on marriage and family in light of “Amoris Laetitia.”

More than six months after the deadly mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, a law enforcement investigation remains ongoing — but security analysts report that a cluster of violent online communities played a role in the attacker’s motivation.