While Catholics generally are prone to religious switching, Black Catholics have the highest rates. Only 54 percent of U.S. Black Catholics who were raised in the faith remain so as adults.

Pope Francis has been invited to the besieged capital of Ukraine.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Essen has become the first in Germany to allow women to perform baptisms, citing a lack of priests.

“In the name of God, I ask: Stop this massacre,” the pope said March 13 at the end of his Sunday Angelus address.

The Vatican on Saturday expressed “surprise and pain” at Nicaragua's expulsion of the papal nuncio, which comes at a time of growing pressure on opposition figures in the Central American nation.

The Catholic Church needs women, especially women saints, who have shown throughout history an unwavering dedication to God and to caring for their brothers and sisters, Pope Francis said.