With the help of a woman Anglican bishop, a Salesian sister and a consecrated virgin, Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals devoted the first morning of their February meeting “to deepening their reflection, begun last December, on the role of women in the church,” the Vatican press office said.

A little-known chapter of American religious history is explored in the enlightening documentary, “For the Sake of the Gospel.” Produced by the Diocese of Savannah, and made possible by the Catholic Communications Campaign, the film will air on EWTN Monday, Feb. 5, 5:30-6 p.m. EST.

– Pope Francis expressed his hopes that Lunar New Year celebrations would offer opportunities for people to experience warm friendships and to show care.

Michelle O’Neill of the Sinn Féin party is the first Catholic to head the region’s government.

In a letter addressed to “my Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel,” Pope Francis expressed his heartbreak at the violence unleashed by the Hamas attack on Israel in October and he repeated the Catholic Church’s condemnation of all forms of antisemitism and anti-Judaism.