The Vatican released a statement denying involvement in the Spanish government's decision to exhume the remains of the country’s late dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco.

The Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy issued a new instruction on pastoral care that specifies the role of lay men and women in the church's mission of evangelization and offers guidance in parish reforms and restructuring.

The diocese said the respirator, delivered to the Campanha de Maraba Hospital July 12 by the apostolic nunciature in Brazil, was one of four sent by the pope to Brazil, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world.

The Vatican was committed to discussing solutions to "mass migration and refugee movements, with the goal of preserving human lives and dignity, alleviating suffering and advancing an authentic and integral development."

Since the establishment of the first Catholic newspapers in the United States, the pope said, local communities have relied on the ever-expanding forms of media "to share, to communicate, to inform and to unite."

Among those who are suffering the most during the pandemic are the Rohingya community, according to Caritas.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, along with members of the "July 21" charitable association, are bringing needed supplies to marginalized communities living outside of Rome as they grapple with the pandemic.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, has said that the pandemic has forced everyone to face the greatest of all fears: the fear of death and dying.

Archbishop Paglia told CNS that just as people were called to self-isolate in order to care for one another, racism can only be defeated by people caring for each other.

The pope will pray at the replica of the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens May 30, the eve of Pentecost, and will also be joined by several "men and women representing various categories of people particularly affected by the virus."