When Pope Francis lands in Romania in late May, the local church hopes that he will be able to encourage a “spiritual wind” from the East into Europe and rebuild the chilled relations between the Catholic and Orthodox communities in the country.

The Catholic Church in Germany is at a point where serious debate — including on priestly celibacy and the role of women — and openness to doing things in a new way must encouraged, said the president of the German bishops’ conference.

For the first time in 300 years, the marble steps of the Holy Stairs will be free from the thick wooden panels installed in 1723 to protect the stairs and left uncovered for the public.

Pope Francis expressed “heartfelt solidarity” Friday with New Zealand and its Muslim community following shooting attacks on two mosques in the city of Christchurch that left at least 49 people dead.

New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have expressed horror and distress at a terrorist attack in two mosques in Christchurch that saw at least 49 people killed.

Four Catholic Relief Service staff members on their way to a training session in Nairobi, Kenya, were among the passengers aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed moments after takeoff in the east African nation. The accident March 10 claimed the lives of 157 people on board, many of them from humanitarian agencies.

Auxiliary Bishop Neil Tiedemann, C.P., pastor of St. Matthias, Ridgewood and Msgr. Kieran Harrington, vicar for communications for the Diocese of Brooklyn, led pilgrims from Brooklyn and Queens to the Holy Land for a Lenten pilgrimage, March 7-15.

Lent is a time to ask for God’s grace to chip away at hypocrisy, which is seen in the natural human attempt to appear “worthier than we are,” Pope Francis said March 8 during his early Morning Mass.