Catholic News Service

Pope Francis has raised the status of the Vatican's diplomatic academy to an institute of higher learning that will issue academic degrees while also strengthening its focus on evangelization.

Pope Francis has ordered the suppression of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Peru-based lay movement active across Latin America and the United States, and three related lay movements following decades of abuse allegations and internal investigations.

The Gospel contains a great message of hope, "because it tells us that wherever we are lost and however we are lost, God always comes looking for us!" said the text for Pope Francis' weekly general audience.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance will be in Rome April 18 and has meetings planned with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, his office said.

Using forced deportations and detainment to deal with migration is "a scandal," said Jesuit Fr. Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Jesuits. The 76-year-old Venezuelan superior general held a news conference in Rome to discuss the state of the world, the church and the Jesuits and to take questions from reporters.

Pope Francis' surprise visit to St. Peter's Basilica to pray and see ongoing restoration work is a clear sign that his condition is improving, the Vatican press office said.

As Pope Francis continues his recovery at the Vatican, he is very slowly beginning to get back to his old routine of meeting with top Vatican officials, the Vatican press office said.

"Seeds of Peace and Hope" is the theme for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, which will be celebrated Sept. 1.

When the pope formally proclaimed the Holy Year dedicated to hope, he had said that "the need for peace challenges us all, and demands that concrete steps be taken." One concrete step is the gift of the four ambulances, the Dicastery for the Service of Charity said, becoming "a sign of Jubilee hope anchored in Christ."

During his second week back at the Vatican after a long hospitalization, Pope Francis continued to follow his doctors' orders to stay home, avoid visitors and keep up with respiratory and physical therapy, the Vatican press office said.

Pope Francis has cleared the way for the canonizations of three blesseds: an Armenian Catholic archbishop martyred during the Armenian genocide, a lay catechist from Papua New Guinea killed during World War II and a Venezuelan religious sister who dedicated her life to education and the poor.

The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world rose in 2023, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders, and baptisms all declined, according to Vatican statistics.

For Pope Francis' medical team at Rome's Gemelli hospital, Feb. 28 was the worst day.

The Catholic Church needs to expand its safeguarding efforts to include the new threats and opportunities posed by artificial intelligence, top organizers of a Vatican conference said.

Change can be frightening, but the Holy Spirit encourages the faithful to face their fears, follow Jesus' light and be "born again," Pope Francis said in a prepared text.

Amid widespread uncertainty and social fragmentation, Pope Francis urged young people to embrace their vocation as "pilgrims of hope," offering their lives generously in service to others and as a response to God's love.

Hundreds of pilgrims from the United States gathered for Mass at the majestic Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica with two main intentions in mind: the health of Pope Francis and the needs of their loved ones at home.

The Vatican secretary of state and Ukraine's president spoke by phone March 14. Topics included the pope's health, the situation in Ukraine, a possible ceasefire and return of children taken from Ukraine into Russia.

With no significant developments, Pope Francis' medical team decided not to release a scheduled bulletin on Friday.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented a paper offering "some clarifications" regarding the meaning of the April 2024 document "Dignitas Infinita" during a conference organized by Germany's Cologne University of Catholic Theology.