So began the first steps on the artistic road that led Moran, 62, a parishioner of Our Lady of Grace in Edina, to complete an oil painting of Pope Leo for the refectory of the Pontifical North American College, the major seminary for American seminarians studying in Rome.

After Pope Leo XIV proclaimed the Jubilee Year of St. Francis from Jan. 10, 2026, to Jan. 10, 2027, the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary also issued a decree granting a plenary indulgence to mark the 800th anniversary year of the popular saint’s death.

St. Frances Academy in Baltimore hosted Maryland’s “AI Future: Education, Equity and the Emerging Workforce” students’ town hall event with Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller and a panel of college presidents Feb. 20.

As Catholics in France prepare for a nationwide prayer and fasting initiative Feb. 20 in anticipation of the final vote on a bill that “leads our country down the path of euthanasia and assisted suicide” and to “ask the Lord to enlighten consciences on the gravity of the challenges posed by this proposed law” — numbers of euthanasia procedures spike around the world.

A key national pro-life group released polling Feb. 19 it said shows a potential failure by the Trump administration to act on pro-life policy priorities may demotivate Republican primary voters in the upcoming midterm elections.