NATION/WORLD

Vietnamese dioceses called off some ceremonies planned for Tet, the Lunar New Year, after a new COVID-19 variant spread to more than 10 cities and provinces.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the nation's movement for racial reckoning, the Catholic Health Association of the United States announced an initiative to confront racism in the provision of health care.

As a child, Sheila Stiles Jewell played outside of the public housing where her family lived in Memphis. She felt one with nature weaving clover and catching bumblebees, not realizing that she was really feeding her curiosity for science and the natural world.

The world must begin to realize its shared humanity in order to live peacefully, otherwise it risks falling apart in endless conflicts, Pope Francis said.

While protocols to slow the COVID-19 pandemic have silenced many concert halls and restricted the use of congregational singing in many churches, Pope Francis prayed that musicians were using this time to listen.

Ash Wednesday, as with many other things right now, will have a different look at many Catholic parishes across the United States this year.

As coronavirus restrictions eased slightly in most parts of Italy Feb. 1, the Vatican Museums reopened to the public after a three-month closure.

The liturgy is not a spectacle to be observed but a prayerful event where Christians encounter Christ's presence in their lives, Pope Francis said.

Christian hope is rooted in the knowledge that God is patient with all his children, even when they stray from the path set before them, Pope Francis told consecrated men and women.

Combating hunger will require humility, protecting the environment and promoting social justice, Pope Francis said.