St. John Paul II had suspended Father Cardenal and several other priests from active ministry in 1985 for joining the Marxist-influenced Sandinista government. Father Cardenal resigned from the Sandinista Front in 1994.

A new Catholic initiative connects volunteers with undocumented members of the community who need support.

The delegation was in Rome to solicit the support of the Italian government in recognizing Guaido as interim president of Venezuela.

“As long as there is a dictatorship in Venezuela, it is better not to return,” said Alexander. “I feel that there is an illegitimate government, a power that literally controls everything, but also an opposition that has defrauded the people many times.”

On Feb. 2, Santos Gaspar Romero Galdamez, the younger brother of Salvadoran Archbishop St. Oscar Romero, died in San Salvador, El Salvador.

During a 45-minute press conference on the flight from Abu Dhabi to Rome, Pope Francis answered questions about whether the Holy See would be ready to act as a mediator to avoid a civil war in Venezuela, the problem of the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy in the Catholic Church and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.