Pope Francis authorized spending up to 1 million euros to free a Colombian nun kidnapped by Al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali, a cardinal testified Thursday.

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan said he was surprised and inspired by Ukrainians he met when he made a brief visit to Lviv, Ukraine.

“Many of the pejorative remarks would appear to be directed to Catholics.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced to staff May 4 the closure of the Washington and New York offices of Catholic News Service. 21 employees will be laid off.

Longtime pro-life advocate Deirdre McQuade died April 21 after a bout with metastatic breast cancer. She was 53.

The Supreme Court appears set to overturn its Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion for nearly 50 years, according to a leaked initial draft of a court opinion obtained by Politico and published online the evening of May 2.