Pope Leo XIV, who graduated from the lower school of St. Mary of the Assumption on the city’s South Side in 1969, greeted and reminisced with 10 of his 82 former classmates after the general audience in St. Peter’s Square March 18.

Pope Leo XIV received King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace March 20, ahead of a solemn ceremony in which the Spanish king renewed a centuries-old bond with the Basilica of St. Mary Major by taking possession of his hereditary title as its protocanon.

Loyola University Maryland announced it received a $3 million gift from Kelly Bryan Rizzo (Class of 1998) and Dan Rizzo (Class of 1999) that will help strengthen student career development and faculty formation.

Archbishop William E. Lori arrived at Loyola University Maryland March 17 with little green to show for St. Patrick’s Day other than a pair of cufflinks he rarely wears. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defended the role of religion in public life during comments March 19 at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington.