NATION/WORLD

With the backdrop a few feet away of the rusted iron slats of the 30-foot wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley and a dozen other bishops from three countries prayed April 1 for compassion and for a return to ideals that welcome immigrants.

Retired Rear Adm. Jeremiah Denton, who as a young Navy flight captain was captured in 1965 during the Vietnam War and held prisoner for more than seven-and-a-half years, died March 28. He was 89.

Blessed John XXIII didn't have pre-conceived ideas of what the Second Vatican Council would accomplish when he called it, but knew his desk was piling up with pastoral problems, questions, requests and hopes. With the bishops present he was certain "the Holy Spirit will be there and all will go well."

At the end of a recent unofficial pre-induction briefing for about 30 young men preparing to join the Israeli army, the participants stood and, led by Greek Orthodox Father Gabriel Nadaf, recited the Our Father in Arabic with hands outstretched. They finished by making the sign of the cross.

Only those who recognize their own limits can accept the great gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, which is why Catholics with disabilities are such important and powerful witnesses of faith, Pope Francis said.

The Philippines' newest cardinal was among 1,000 guests who witnessed the peace agreement between the government and the country's largest Muslim rebel group.

In their first encounter, Pope Francis received U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican March 27 for a discussion that touched on several areas of tension between the Catholic Church and the White House, including religious freedom and medical ethics.

Jesuit Father William R. Stoeger, a staff scientist for the Vatican Observatory Research Group in Tucson and a long-time member of Brophy College Preparatory’s Board of Trustees, died March 24 after a struggle with cancer. He was 70 and had been a member of the Society of Jesus for 52 years.

Pope Francis received U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican March 27. In what was their first encounter, the two leaders spoke in private for more than 50 minutes, an extraordinarily long time for such a meeting.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia underscored the urgency of removing the contraception mandate from the U.S. health care law, said he looked forward to more debate about church practice on marriage, and credited Pope Francis with teaching Catholics that they must preach the Gospel before attempting to transmit the church's moral teachings.