NATION/WORLD

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- During Lent, Pope Francis said, Catholics -- and especially Catholic seminarians -- should rediscover the joy of simplicity, pay less attention to their appearance than to their prayer lives and make a special effort to get along with everyone they live with. Progress on the Lenten "path of conversion and renewal," the pope said, starts with "allowing oneself to be conquered by renewed awe at God's love," the foundation of every vocation.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Saying Pope Francis was continuing to experience "mild flu-like symptoms," the Vatican announced he had canceled his appointments again Feb. 26. The 87-year-old pope had led the recitation of the Angelus prayer as usual Feb. 25 and seemed to have no difficulty speaking or breathing, and he did not cough. The previous day, though, he canceled a meeting with transitional deacons from the Diocese of Rome. The Vatican press office had put out a note Feb. 24 saying, "Due to a mild flu-like condition, as a precautionary measure, the pope canceled his audiences scheduled for today."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- This Lent, Christians should become "seekers of light" by keeping their sights set on the light of Jesus through prayer and participating in the sacraments, Pope Francis said. "This is a good Lenten resolution: cultivating a welcoming outlook, becoming 'seekers of light,' seekers of the light of Jesus, both in prayer and in people," he told visitors in St. Peter's Square before praying the Angelus with them Feb. 25.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus did not teach his disciples to organize agencies and structures to help vulnerable people, but gave the example of encountering them, listening to them and helping them as individuals and not "categories" of people in need, Pope Francis said. "Jesus wanted to form his disciples in a style of living in contact with the vulnerable, in the midst of them," the pope wrote in a speech prepared for his meeting March 1 with a group of Italians attending a four-day seminar on "Vulnerability and Community: Between Welcome and Inclusion."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Making the world a better place for everyone starts with prayer and little steps like saying hello, sorry or thank you, Pope Francis said in a letter to the world's children. "Our world will change if we all begin with these little things, without being ashamed to take small steps, one at a time," he wrote in the letter that was released March 2.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When it comes to inspiring people's actions, Jesus knew that being an example to others is more important than "a flood of words," Pope Francis said. Jesus washing his disciples' feet at the Last Supper "is undoubtedly an eloquent symbol of the Beatitudes proclaimed by the Lord in the Sermon on the Mount and of their concrete expression in works of mercy," the pope said in a written message March 7.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis plans to launch a humanitarian project in Gaza or the West Bank with the possible help of the traditional Good Friday collection for the Holy Land, said the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches. "The outbreak of the war in Gaza, after the events of October 7, paralyzed the Holy Land. The lack of pilgrims and tourists has put thousands of families in difficulty," the dicastery said in its annual appeal to bishops around the world asking them to urge their people to generously support this year's collection.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of U.S. Sister Rose Hawthorne, the daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and he recognized the martyrdom of a German priest executed by the Nazis and a German nun and her 14 companions who were raped and murdered by Russian soldiers during World War II. After Pope Francis met March 14 with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the Vatican published the list of decrees the pope approved in 12 sainthood causes.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Faced with decades of rising secularism, the Catholic Church must invest in families and in strengthening other forms of community to transmit the faith, Pope Francis said. "The big issue before us is to understand how to overcome the rupture that has been established in the transmission of faith," the pope told members of the Dicastery for Evangelization's section for new evangelization March 15. "To that end there is an urgent need to recover an effective relationship with families and formation centers

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Holy Spirit is like a line prompter at a theater, behind the scenes and constantly whispering to Christians the words of Jesus, said the preacher of the papal household. "However, he does not mechanically suggest the words of the Gospel, like from a script, but explains them, adapts them and applies them to specific situations," Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa told Pope Francis, cardinals and members of the Roman Curia. Concluding his series of Friday Lenten meditations March 22, Cardinal Cantalamessa insisted that listening to the Holy Spirit and discerning what the Spirit is saying to individuals and to the church at large is an exercise essential to following Jesus.