The Catholic Relief Services Collection, an annual fund supporting Catholic Church organizations that carry out international relief efforts, will be taken up in March, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said.

This Lent, as we walk toward Easter, we have a beautiful opportunity to ask ourselves what is missing in our spiritual life and spend time just being with Jesus.

Pope Francis named five new members to his international Council of Cardinals and renewed the mandate of four current members, the Vatican announced March 7.

Pope Francis will open a Lenten prayer and penance initiative at a Rome parish March 17 rather than in St. Peter’s Basilica as in past years.

Mercy High School graduate Ashley Kowalski, project leader for international partnerships at The Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles, has made a career of accepting challenges.