Pope Francis met with Russia's new ambassador Ivan Soltanovsky as the Vatican's Ukraine peace envoy prepares for another possible trip to Russia.

“In a world divided, wounded and in need of healing, peace and reconciliation, La Civiltà Cattolica offers everyone a message of hope,” Nuno da Silva Gonçalves, S.J., said in reaction to the appointment.

Former President George W. Bush called for the reauthorization of PEPFAR, the AIDS relief program, calling the program “sufficiently pro-life,” despite claims to the contrary from some pro-life advocates.

Despite deep political fractures surrounding the issue, the British Parliament passed a bill which would halt most prosecutions for killings by militant groups and British soldiers during the Troubles.

In an email, the East Texas bishop told RNS that he ‘cannot voluntarily abandon the flock that I have been given charge of as a successor of the apostles.’

The sale of 272 enslaved persons by the Jesuits in 1838 helped provide financing for the struggling Georgetown University.