NATION/WORLD

In the wake of a deadly fire in a Baghdad hospital treating COVID-19 patients and more migrant deaths in the Mediterranean Sea, Pope Francis prayed for the victims of the disasters and their families.

Jesus is the good shepherd who knows, loves and defends his sheep, embracing everyone without exception, Pope Francis said.

St. Joseph is no stranger to Carmel! He is the protector of our order.

To put Sister Francis Dominici Piscatella's extraordinarily long life into historical perspective, consider that Pope Pius X was pontiff and Woodrow Wilson was U.S. president when she was born in 1913.

Sainthood. It's a matter of faith that Catholics who die in a state of grace join the communion of saints in heaven. Indeed, the church has codified that recognition in the celebration of All Saints' Day each Nov. 1.

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continued, members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors remained active in promoting outreach and providing new educational opportunities.

The Idaho Senate approved a measure called the Heartbeat Bill April 20 that would ban almost all abortions after an unborn child's heartbeat can be detected, which could be as early as six weeks, and the measure has been sent to Gov. Brad Little's desk.

Teresa Pitt Green, who as a child was sexually abused by Catholic priests, said she is convinced "there's a lot more hope than people dare to feel."

When it comes to safeguarding creation, there is no time to waste -- humanity either must live up to its responsibility or continue on a path of self-destruction, Pope Francis said, commemorating Earth Day with a video message.

Sometimes the Catholic Church has "proposed a far too abstract and almost artificial theological ideal of marriage, far removed from the concrete situations and practical possibilities of real families," Pope Francis wrote in his 2016 exhortation, "Amoris Laetitia."