A funeral Mass for Dominican Sister Catherine Thomas Dwyer was offered Feb. 7 at her religious community’s motherhouse in Sinsinawa, Wis. Sister Catherine Thomas died Jan. 27. She was 88.

A funeral Mass for Franciscan Sister Nancy Crossen will be offered Feb. 14 at Assisi House in Aston, Pa. Sister Nancy (formerly Sister Mark Francis) died Feb. 7. She was 94 and had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 74 years.

In response to the devastating earthquake that struck northern Syria Feb. 6, the patriarchs and heads of churches in the country demanded the lifting of “unjust sanctions” on the Syrian people, calling for “exceptional measures” to secure delivery of humanitarian aid.

The lifelong Catholic has no judgment on those who have left after being abused, she said, nor does she want to diminish anyone else’s story. But she wants to encourage others who wish to continue in their faith journey even as they carry a pain she knows can be unbearable.

Pope Francis urged all people to be in solidarity with the regions of Turkey and Syria struck by two powerful earthquakes early Feb. 6 and that are “in part already martyred by a long war.”