The British state continues to make preparations for the growing possibility of a no-deal exit, an outcome sufficiently plausible that it is spending large sums recruiting new staff and renting warehouse space for key supplies, such as E.U.-produced medicine, that may abruptly prove hard to come by.

The messages of “Mary” that can be applied to our own age are received early, and often.

In a message marking the anniversary of their country's December 1991 referendum on independence from the Soviet Union, Ukrainian Catholic bishops said Ukrainians had a "right and sacred duty" to defend themselves against "Russian aggression," but should also avoid yielding to alarm and panic.

“Tragic characters like these, who seem tangled in sin, are always a call to conversion,” said one Polish primate.

Catholics in Ukraine said people fear a full-scale war with Russia, after a naval confrontation prompted the imposition of martial law in Ukraine's eastern regions.

The Vatican today announced the approval of its application to a payment-integration initiative of the European Union for simplification of bank transfers in the euro currency.