This week has brought us all into close contact with human suffering. We are all like the man on the side of the road in the story of the Good Samaritan, beaten and bloody.

The faith-based office, founded under President George W. Bush, evolved over the past two decades, but it became moribund under President Donald Trump, who preferred to talk only with evangelical leaders who supported him.

To help you begin your Lenten retreat, we’ve collected messages of encouragement from the shepherds of the Catholic Church in the United States and beyond.

Public disagreements among the U.S. bishop are rare but not unprecedented. A contentious debate about the church and AIDS in 1987 is perhaps the situation most similar to the divisions over how to welcome President Biden.

"The role of prayer and prudential judgment on behalf of all Catholics, but also especially, in a particular way, the shepherds of the church is so important."

Leadership lapses and the spread of erroneous information and fear about possible treatments for the disease also threaten a successful Covid-19 response in Africa.