At his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis prayed for and “expressed [his] closeness” to the victims of flooding in northern India. Over 30 people have died and nearly 200 more are reported missing after flash floods burst a dam in the state of Uttarakhand on Sunday. Reportedly caused by the separation of a glacier, the

Pope Francis made some high profile appointments heading into last weekend, naming Sr. Nathalie Becquart and Fr. Luis Marín de San Martín as undersecretaries to the Synod of Bishops. Only, what does the appointment of a woman with full voting rights in the Synod really tell us about how Pope Francis governs the Church?

"Fraternity is the true cure for the pandemic and the many evils that have affected us," Pope Francis told the Vatican diplomatic corps Monday morning. "Along with vaccines, fraternity and hope are, as it were, the medicine we need in today’s world.” What does fraternity require of us during the coronavirus pandemic?

Pope Francis has appealed for universal healthcare before – the social doctrine of the Catholic Church considers access to basic care a right – but the venue in which he renewed his appeal on Monday was a high profile one: the corps of diplomats accredited to the Holy See.

Pope Francis held a moment of silent prayer for Myanmar (Burma) during his Angelus address on Sunday, expressing his “spiritual closeness," along with "prayers" and "solidarity” with the people of the country.

US President Joe Biden may be Catholic, but he is pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, and pro-transgender rights, putting him at odds with the U.S. bishops, who have set up a task force for dealing with the new president -- and questions have been raised about how a meeting between Pope Francis and Biden might play out – and whether the pontiff will take a hard line with the president on life issues.

The memorial of St. Martha was already included on Jan. 29 in the General Roman Calendar before the Second Vatican Council, but St. Lazarus and St. Mary had been originally left off due to uncertainty about the identity of Mary Magdalene. The decree explained that these uncertainties “have been resolved in recent studies and times,” and pointed out that Mary and Lazarus are already commemorated on July 29 in the Roman Martyrology, the Church’s official catalog of martyrs and saints.

Nobel peace laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who currently serves as State Counsellor, is among the elected officials detained, reportedly under house arrest. Soldiers took Suu Kyi into custody along with Myanmar’s president, Win Myint, and other leaders the National League for Democracy party (NLD), who won a landslide victory in elections last November. Official military channels allege election fraud as their reason for seizing power, now in the hands of Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the army’s senior commander, who has declared a one-year state of emergency.