Bomb strikes Catholic headquarters in Ukraine (CNA) A bomb struck the headquarters of a Catholic diocese on Tuesday in the besieged Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Forty people were sheltering in the basement of the diocesan chancery when the bomb landed on March 1, but no injuries were reported, the Italian news agency SIR said. A video posted on Twitter by the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales showed debris strewn across the floor of a upper room in the chancery…

Ukrainian archbishop calls on Russia not to bomb cathedral (CNS) The Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Kyiv-Halych and the Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See said they had received information that Russia planned airstrikes on the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv. A Rome spokesman for Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, major archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic church, said Archbishop Shevchuk called on all Christians to pray for the site and “calls upon the aggressor to refrain from this most horrific act of vandalism…”

Pope thanks Poles for opening borders to Ukrainians (Vatican News) In his greeting to the Polish faithful at the General Audience in the Vatican, the Pope thanks the people of Poland for their generosity towards people fleeing the war in Ukraine. You were the first to support Ukraine, opening your borders, your hearts and the doors of your homes to Ukrainians fleeing the war,” said Pope Francis in his greeting to the Polish pilgrims present for the General Audience in the Paul VI Hall. He expressed deep gratitude and bestowed his blessings to the people of Poland noting they are “generously offering [the refugees] everything they need to live in dignity, despite the drama of the moment…”

Jacksonville church statue defaced with “Hail Satan” (ActionNews Jax) Police are looking for a suspect accused of defacing a religious statue at a local Catholic Church. On Feb. 23, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to Holy Family Catholic Church on Baymeadows Boulevard after three religious statues were reported vandalized. Officers say the white statue depicting the Holy Family was found defaced with black marker. The words “Hail Satan” had been written on the statue of Jesus, together with drawings of a mustache and phallic image. The suspect drew breasts on the Virgin Mary and a pentacle star on Joseph’s forehead…

Half a million march after Colombia decriminalizes abortion (CNA) Across Colombia, around half a million people marched on Sunday to defend the lives of the unborn, rejecting the recent ruling of the Constitutional Court decriminalizing abortion up to six months of pregnancy. The United for Life platform said Feb. 27 that “the rejection of the five judges of the Court who voted for the ruling that allows abortion up to six months, without any limits” was “overwhelming…”