Feb. 12 was the 15th anniversary of Sister Dorothy Stang’s assassination in the Amazon region of Brazil. The U.S.-born nun is remembered as a crusader for the poor and the landless and for her love of the land and the Amazon forest.

Pope Francis acknowledged the serious shortage of priests in remote areas of the Amazon, but he insisted not all avenues have been exhausted to address the issue.

Pope Francis said he dreams of an Amazon region where the rights of the poor and indigenous are respected, local cultures are preserved, nature is protected, and the Catholic Church is present and active with “Amazonian features.”

Less than 40 years after its humble beginnings in New Haven, Connecticut, the Knights of Columbus was invited by Pope Benedict XV to establish a permanent presence in Rome.

Talking about debates, differences and discernment, Pope Francis told a group of U.S. bishops that people focused on the possibility of ordaining some married men and women deacons for service in the Amazon will be disappointed in his apostolic exhortation.

Pope Francis praised the Knights of Columbus for their charitable efforts and thanked them especially for helping Christians in the Middle East.

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan is set to meet with the president of the Republic of Cuba during a Feb. 7-12 trip to the island nation, which includes a visit with the cardinal of Havana and other Cuban prelates.

The film covers the familiar outlines of the old story, with two children negotiating a dark and very foggy forest as they escape a famine-scarred home life in search of food and security.

As three members of Congress and a well-known economist called for healing, unity and “love of neighbor” at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump broke ranks and criticized Democrats for impeaching him while hailing Republicans who acquitted him.

Mercy Sister Mary Scullion, co-founder and executive director of Project HOME, an organization that helps the homeless in Philadelphia, was one of the many guests who attended the Feb. 4 State of the Union, which she hoped would draw attention to homelessness and inspire federal aid to alleviate it.