The Italian hill town of Assisi is anticipating a visit from Pope Leo XIV during the special Jubilee Year of St. Francis as the city celebrates the 800th anniversary of the death of its most famous saint.

As a relentless winter descends upon wartorn Ukraine with temperatures dropping to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, the Holy See has intensified its humanitarian response to the nation’s energy and health crises.

A funeral Mass for Oblate Sister of Providence M. Felicia Avila will be offered at 11 a.m. Feb. 13 at the Oblate Sisters of Providence motherhouse chapel in Arbutus. Sister Felecia, whose more than 60 years of ministry included serving at St. Ambrose Parish in Park Heights, died Feb. 2. She was 89.

Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit Australia in 2028 to preside over the International Eucharistic Congress, an auxiliary bishop of Sydney has announced.

The daughter of imprisoned media entrepreneur and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai said that while the 20-year sentence he was given was heartbreaking, her family, and especially her father, still trusts in “divine providence” for a solution.