News Briefs

It is his faith in God, particularly “that biblical injunction to serve the least of these, that keeps me going and that keeps me from being overwhelmed,” President Barack Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 3. • Bread for the World’s president, the Lutheran pastor and economist David Beckmann, describes himself as a careful follower of Catholic social teaching, which he called a great resource for all Christians. • Police in Bogotá, Colombia, were investigating the murders of two priests, Rafael Reatiga Rojas, 34, and Richard Piffano Laguado, 36, who were found on Jan. 26 shot to death after an apparent robbery. • Responding to the increasing number of Christians moving into northern Iraq to escape violence in the south, the Archdiocese of Arbil on Feb. 2 announced plans for the construction of a university and hospital. • On Feb. 4 Prince Charles became the first member of the British royal family to enter a Catholic church in Ireland, visiting St. Malachy’s Church in Belfast to tour its restoration. • San Salvador’s Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas hopes President Barack Obama’s visit on March 22-23 will set the stage for a “radical reform” of immigration issues.