“Take courage.” God planted this gentle command within my soul while I was attending a silent retreat with the same name in 2018 led by Jesuit Father James Kubicki. At the retreat, I learned that the root of the word courage is “cor,” meaning heart. To truly take courage, one must take heart, and, as Father Kubicki said, “(What) better heart to take than the heart of Jesus?”

The Supreme Court temporarily allowed Idaho April 15 to enforce a ban on certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender.

As the White House responds to Iran's attack against Israel, Catholic experts said U.S. officials should seek to prevent further escalation in the region.

Catholic bioethicists are sounding the alarm about a critical lack of agreement on what constitutes brain death; and the implications for organ donation are "profound," they said.

The Vatican Secretariat of State sent a formal statement to the French Embassy to the Holy See reaffirming that Pope Francis had sent a top Vatican official to investigate a French religious congregation and warning that interference by a French civil court in an internal church matter could be a "serious violation" of religious freedom.

Tens of thousands of Poles have joined church-backed street protests after legislators pressed ahead with plans to liberalize abortion in the traditionally Catholic country.

One day before Iran launched missiles and exploding drones at Israel, Pope Francis sent a message to viewers of Saudi Arabia's Al Arabiya Network pleading for peace throughout the Middle East.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York said he and other members of a delegation traveling in Israel and Palestine "feel safe and secure" April 14, after Israel defended itself overnight from unprecedented Iranian drone strikes and missiles.

An inspiring but once little-known chapter of history provides the basis for the Holocaust drama "Irena's Vow" (Quiver). The humane basic values of the story could potentially make it appealing for older teens as well as grown-ups. However, a plot development involving an objectively immoral situation requires careful assessment.

The psychological and ethical complexities of front-line journalism are explored in depth in the dystopian drama "Civil War" (A24). The result is an engrossing but distressingly realistic film that's fit for only a relatively small audience of grown viewers.

Pope Francis is planning to make the longest trip of his papacy in September, visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore, the Vatican press office announced.