NATION/WORLD

Despite single-digit temperatures, thousands descended on Washington Jan. 22 to declare their opposition to abortion. Most of the red noses and chapped lips belonged to faces under 25.

A line in Pope Francis' first World Day of Communications' message revived the question of how Christians are called to both search for truth in others and proclaim the truth in Jesus Christ.

A possible papal trip to South Korea for an Asian youth gathering in August is under consideration as are invitations to the Philippines and Sri Lanka, the Vatican spokesman said.

The divisions that exist among Christians are a source of pain and scandal, and damage the credibility and work of spreading the Gospel, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican March 27, the White House announced and the Vatican confirmed.

Christians facing difficulties and discrimination, especially in the Middle East, can learn a valuable lesson from Japanese Christians who survived by clandestinely baptizing, praying and hiding during 250 years of harsh persecution, Pope Francis said.

A rabbi who has known Pope Francis for almost 20 years and counts him as a close personal friend said the pope's May trip to the Holy Land will be a challenging balancing act because of the high expectations of Israelis and Palestinians and of Christians, Jews and Muslims.

On successive days in mid-January, Pope Francis and his top collaborator at the Vatican made public statements that provided a lesson in Franciscan contextualization of highly loaded moral issues.

Arizona's law banning abortions at the 20-week stage remains unenforceable, after the Supreme Court Jan. 13 declined to hear the state's appeal of a lower court ruling that the 2012 law is unconstitutional.

Stressing that their role would be one of service rather than honor, Pope Francis named 19 new cardinals, including six men from his home region of Latin America.