Judith Kelly discusses the inspiring and heroic life of Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, a Cold War-era priest in Communist Poland who sacrificed his life for his people.

Catholic experts are expressing concern after a recent Pew Research Center survey found that only 35 percent of U.S. Catholic parents say that it is extremely or very important to them that their children grow up to hold similar religious beliefs.

Catholics need to ask themselves whether their communities are a “concrete sign of unity and love” or simply a group of people who happen to live near each other or, worse, a collection of folks ranked according to wealth, Pope Francis said.

Persecution has led to people spreading — not forgetting — the Gospel to the many places they go, Pope Francis said.

It’s hard to believe that Lent starts in just a few days and that Ash Wednesday is this week. I’m looking forward to Lent and have no concrete plan yet—except filling our prayer basket with intentions to pick each morning.