n a message of support for the March for Life in Washington, a Vatican official praised "the tens of thousands" of participants for their witness to the "value of every human life".

The stresses of the job hit rural priests particularly hard.

"You are the new Magi in our time, who teach us all to keep our heads up, and amid the darkness of the night at times, to take heart that God is still in the heavens, guiding us like that Bethlehem star."

Pope Francis has visited other prisons, but this was the first time on his travels as pope that he visited one just for women. He was greeted by women standing with their babies in their arms. 

The new law, which takes effect Feb. 1, establishes a 50-meter, no-protest zone around eight abortion facilities in Ontario.

O'Riordan, 46, died suddenly Jan. 15 in London, where she had been due to record material for a new release. Police were investigating her death, calling it "unexplained."