NATION/WORLD

Under the gaze of a seventh-century icon of Mary, Pope Francis launched a monthlong, global recitation of the rosary, pleading for Mary's intercession for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Updating the Litany of St. Joseph, approved in 1909, the Vatican has added seven invocations, including two that address the guardian of Jesus and husband of Mary as "support in difficulty" and "patron of refugees."

With President Joe Biden now proposing several ultra-expensive infrastructure, education and family-related bills, the president's controversial Equality Act may get a slower hearing in the U.S. Senate.

A true synodal path comes from making concrete choices that give way to the action of the Holy Spirit, not from following spur-of-the-moment concepts that adhere to the latest trends, Pope Francis said.

The global Catholic Church coming together to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic represents the hope and faith of the people of God and how they find solace and strength together with Mary, said a theological expert in Mariology.

Updating the laws that govern the Vatican's civil judicial system, Pope Francis stated that cardinals and bishops accused of a crime can now be tried in a Vatican court.

Charity and fraternity in one's family and community is the first step in helping establish the kingdom of God in a world that is increasingly divided, Pope Francis said.

In his first major address to Congress as U.S. president, Joe Biden urged Republicans and Democrats April 28 to work together as the country emerges from a pandemic but still faces threats from countries such as China.

Amid the suffering due to a devastating economic crisis and a global pandemic, the beatification of José Gregorio Hernández, affectionately known as the "doctor of the poor," is a testament of the faith and hope of the people of Venezuela, Pope Francis said.

While the Russian government's treatment of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny is "mainly a political question," the mass arrests of protesters and the situation in Russia's jails are a concern for the Catholic Church and all Christians, said the head of Moscow's Mother of God Archdiocese.