Wildfires

VATICAN – Pope Francis welcomed top officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Vatican the day before the officials inaugurated their first temple in the city of Rome.

WASHINGTON – 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.

VATICAN – Answering the Lord's call demands the courage to take a risk, but it is an invitation to become part of an important mission, Pope Francis said.

PEORIA, Ill. – Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria announced "with great joy" March 5 that the New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled 5-0 that the remains of Archbishop Fulton Sheen should be transferred from New York to the Peoria Diocese.

Poverty activists are encouraged by the latest StatsCan numbers showing poverty is on the decline in Canada, but warn that more ambitious programs are needed to end poverty once and for all.

After topping $13 million for the first time last year, ShareLife is reaching even higher this year as it brings three more agencies under its charitable umbrella.

First Sunday of Lent, March 10 (Year C) Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Psalm 91; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13

LIMA, Peru – Catholic Church leaders in Venezuela say a peaceful transfer of power from embattled President Nicolas Maduro to a transitional government, probably led by National Assembly president Juan Guaido, is the best hope for the crisis-wracked country.

To much of the world, Britain’s clumsy exit from the European Union, slated to begin March 29, is somewhat of a joke. But to the people of a divided Ireland, particularly Catholics and Protestants in the North, it’s a threat to peace.

MONTREAL – St. Joseph Oratory is about to get a $110 million (US$82 million) makeover under a plan to make the popular site more attractive to tourists.