“2021 is a time that must not be wasted,” Pope Francis said during his annual meeting with diplomats accredited to the Holy See. “I am convinced that fraternity is the true cure for the pandemic and the many evils that have affected us.”

In November, incoming U.S. President Joe Biden said at a Jesuit Refugee Service event that he would be heading in a dramatically different direction than the previous administration on refugee admissions.

“Science has made my faith stronger,” she said. “The DNA structure is amazing. It is beautiful and is evidence of what God can do and has done.”

President Joe Biden on Thursday called for a confrontation of the “political extremism” that inspired the U.S. Capitol riot and appealed for collective strength during such turbulent times in remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast.

A prominent Russian Catholic urged his nation's bishops to condemn the mass arrest and beating of protesters, but the Moscow archdiocesan chancellor said the church could not comment on “political matters.”

Six U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committee chairmen urged each member of Congress to support much-needed pandemic relief legislation that promotes “the dignity and value of all human life.”