Pope sends letter to world’s bishops ahead of consecration (Vatican News) The Pope is formally inviting every Catholic Bishop around the world to join him on Friday, 25 March, to pray a “solemn Act of Consecration of humanity, and Russia and Ukraine in particular, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Pope Francis made the appeal in a letter sent on Wednesday to all Bishops. In his letter, the Pope lamented the “immense suffering” the war in Ukraine is inflicting upon its “sorely tried people” and which is “threatening world peace…”

Bishops recommit Church to pro-life issues (CNS) As the nation awaits the U.S. Supreme Court’s most significant abortion ruling in decades, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the chairmen of eight USCCB committees joined together “in prayer and expectant hope that states will again be able to protect women and children from the injustice of abortion.” “As we affirm the value of every human life, we welcome the possibility of saving countless unborn children as well as sparing women and families the pain of abortion,” they said in a statement released late March 21…

Graham presses SCOTUS nominee on faith issues (CNA) U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Tuesday pressed Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on the importance of her Christian faith, asking at one point, “Could you fairly judge a Catholic?” The exchange took place Tuesday in the early hours of the second day of Jackson’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Currently a federal judge serving on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Jackson, 54, is President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer…

Ring stolen from statue in Rome basilica (AP) A thief broke into the Basilica of St. Nicholas in the southern city of Bari overnight, stealing a gold ring from a finger of a statue of the saint, who is venerated by Catholic and Orthodox Christians and whose remains attract many pilgrims from Russia to the Italian church, officials said on Tuesday…

Pope tells Lebanon’s president he plans to visit “soon” (CNS) Pope Francis told Lebanon’s president the country has a special place in his prayers, and he reiterated his intention to visit. During his March 21 meeting at the Vatican with President Michel Aoun, a Maronite Catholic, Pope Francis noted that, despite the current tense international situation, “Lebanon does not lose sight of concerns of the Holy See,” Lebanon’s national news agency reported…