A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, by Jill Rice

With the help of a woman Anglican bishop, a Salesian sister and a consecrated virgin, Pope Francis and his cardinal advisors sought to deepen their reflection on the role of women in the church.

On Sunday, Pope Francis sent his greetings to all who will celebrate the Lunar New Year on Feb. 10 and invited everyone to pray for peace.

Members at last October’s synod, which included cardinals, bishops, women and men religious, lay men and women, noted their concern with the almost total absence of parish priests at the synod assembly.

How Louis J. Twomey, S.J., overcame his own prejudice to become one of the most outspoken white allies of New Orleans’s Black community.

"If we come to understand that God suffers alongside us as one who truly knows what it means to suffer, our anger morphs into love and our suffering mysteriously becomes a means of transformation."

Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare and Leighlin said he hoped that the newly returned relic of St. Brigid would inspire people to show hospitality to asylum-seekers, at a time of growing protests about immigration in the country.

The president of the Irish bishop’s conference hailed an agreement that sees a Catholic take the top political job in Northern Ireland for the first time in its history as an “opportunity for a fresh start and a new beginning.”

When asked by host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., why he chose the message of “Welcome Home” and not to preach “in a heavier way,” to emphasize the penitential nature of the season, Cardinal Arthur Roche replies: “Well, because I think, really, that’s what Lent is all about.

The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has issued a doctrinal note approved by Pope Francis that aims to counteract deviations in the administration of the sacraments.