Pope Leo XIV concluded his first trip to Africa April 23, capping a four-country visit marked by urgent calls for peace, direct engagement with conflict zones and a backdrop of international political tension.

The professional legacy of famed entertainer Michael Jackson continues to glitter as brightly as the rhinestone-covered glove he was fond of sporting on stage. Yet the details of his controversial personal life remain as murkily mysterious as they were at the moment of his untimely death at age 50 in 2009.

On his last day in Equatorial Guinea, Pope Leo XIV reminded Catholics in the country to seek strength, justice and hope from the Gospel and the sacraments.

On a recent vacation, I read Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables.”

Hugo was truly a poet and philosopher. “Les Misérables” became one of his most popular works through its musical presentation on Broadway and later as a film. It tells various stories about life with distinct and complicated moral issues that need resolution.

I have a question about appeals to Rome of the declaration of nullity process. The metropolitan tribunal of my local archdiocese has completed their review of the case and stated that it has been proved that there is sufficient ground to find the marriage invalid (“decision in the affirmative”).