In a video message released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, Pope Francis offered his prayer intention for the month of January, which he dedicated to people who suffer from religious discrimination and persecution.

“As the omicron variant of Covid sweeps through our area, I ask that you please continue to be extremely cautious,” Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory said.

A retired priest of the Diocese of Arlington, who for seven years oversaw the diocese’s program on protecting minors from clerical sexual abuse, was indicted shortly before Christmas on two counts of sexually abusing a minor.

The documentary, based on Francis’ 2018 book “Sharing the Wisdom of Time,” addresses fundamental lessons to be learned through the experiences of the elderly: love, dreams, struggle and work.

Pope Francis has dismissed from the priesthood Robert McWilliams, a Cleveland man who is serving a life sentence in prison for sexually exploiting children.

The 75-year-old Canadian Jesuit will replace Cardinal Peter Turkson on an interim basis.