A Swiss Guard observes the floral decoration prepared for Easter Sunday 2024 in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

From March 10-18, the U.S. bishops invite parents in the process of adoption to pray a novena to St. Joseph for this intention. In the photo, St. Joseph of Jesus Divine Word Church in Huntington.

Scaffolding surrounds Gian Lorenzo Bernini's baldachin above the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. St. Peter's expects the baldachin to be ready for the great Jubilee 2025.

"Mass Explained," is the book by Miami author and graphic designer Dan Gonzalez in which he visually explains the celebration, rites and liturgical objects of the Mass with photos from the archives of Arkansas Catholic, newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock.

Altar servers lead the procession that traditionally takes place on Ash Wednesday from the church of San Anselmo to the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Republican, holds a Bible during the annual National Prayer Breakfast at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 1, 2024.

Unaccompanied minors from Honduras sit on the riverbank in Roma, Texas, after crossing the Rio Grande. Each year thousands of these minors cross into the U.S. at various border points.

After more than 500 days of detention, the Ortega regime has sent Monsignor Rolando Álvarez into exile along with 18 other imprisoned clergymen. Bishop Alvarez arrived in Rome on January 14, 2023, as confirmed by the Vatican.

The brother of one of the baptized follows "attentively" the Baptism ceremony presided over by Pope Francis. The celebration took place in the Sistine Chapel on January 7, 2024, feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

On December 31, 2022, Benedict XVI, the Pope who stood out for his theological depth and musical and artistic sensitivity, died. One year after his death, his legacy is more alive than ever.

A nativity scene designed by Myriam Lacerenza of Rome using a baseball and baseball gloves is on display as part of the "100 Nativity Scenes at the Vatican" exhibit on view under the colonnade in St. Peter's Square.

The arrival of the Christmas tree marks the beginning of Vatican Christmas preparations. This year the tree comes from the Maira Valley and will be lit on December 9. After Christmas, the wood will be made into toys and donated to Caritas.

Indi Gregory has put her right to palliative care back on the table after being denied by a British judge who ordered her to be taken off life support despite the Bambino Gesu in Rome offering to provide it.

Sister Zelie Maria Louis, Sister of the Congregation Sisters of Lifesmiles after his final vows at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.

A group of tourists visit the catacombs of the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York. This visit is very popular among New Yorkers and foreigners.

In this photograph taken in the Catacombs of St. Sebastian in Rome, carved inscriptions including the word "Peter" can be seen. The relics of the apostles Peter and Paul were temporarily transferred together to these catacombs in 258.

The image of Our Lady crowns the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille. Pope Francis entrusted his trip to France to participate in the "Encounters of the Mediterranean" to this invocation.

The red biretta and scroll of Chicago native Cardinal Robert F. Prevost after the consistory in which Pope Francis created him a cardinal along with 20 other prelates on Sept. 30, 2023.

The wreath laid by Pope Francis rests on a monument dedicated to migrants and those lost at sea in Marseille.

Migrant children look at food brought by aid workers as they wait at the U.S.-Mexico border for U.S. immigration agents to act.

More than 7,000 people gathered in London for the March for Life on September 2, 2023. The slogan of this march was "Freedom to Live".

Members of the honor guard parade after the arrival of Pope Francis at Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Sept. 1, 2023.

A girl prays after releasing a paper lantern into the Motoyasu River in front of the destroyed Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima. The dropping of the atomic bomb on this city that has become a symbol of nuclear disarmament is commemorated every August 6.

The Opening Mass of the World Youth Day gathered hundreds of thousands of young people in Lisbon. This is the 38th edition of this meeting of young Catholics.

A bakery in Lisbon, Portugal, sells, during the days of World Youth Day, original cookies with the image of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis with about 250 children of Vatican employees attending a summer program from July 3 to August 4. The Pope met with them in the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall on July 18, 2023.

Priest John Molyneux, speaks at the beginning of the blessing ceremony of the interior of the historic St. Gabriel the Archangel Mission, which was nearly destroyed in an arson attack in July 2020.

The image of San Fermin walks the streets of Pamplona in its traditional procession on July 7. The festival in honor of the Navarrese saint is one of the best known in the world.

After ten days of hospitalization for abdominal surgery, Pope Francis leaves the Gemelli Polyclinic. At the exit, dozens of people were able to greet him and wish him a speedy recovery.

A pilgrim walks on her knees while praying the Rosary in Fatima, Portugal. Some 4 million people flock to this Marian shrine each year.

The Marian Library of the University of Dayton in Ohio keeps some curious albums with old Marian prints and newspaper clippings.

"As a pilgrim and friend I come to Hungary, a country rich in history and culture; from Budapest, city of bridges and saints, I think of all Europe and pray that, united and in solidarity, it may also be today a house of peace and a prophecy of welcome."

Members of the Vatican Swiss Guard arrive in formation in St. Peter's Square for Easter morning Mass.

The processions return this Holy Week to the streets of cities and towns like this Palm Sunday in Antigua (Guatemala).

Pope Francis will return to Hungary at the end of April 2023 on a three-day apostolic journey whose highlight will be Holy Mass in front of the Hungarian Parliament building.

Like millions of Catholics, a child prays during Ash Wednesday Mass on Feb. 22, 2023, at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church in Indianapolis.

Rescue workers carry Zeynep Atesogullari out of a building destroyed in Diyarbakir by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck parts of Turkey and Syria on February 6, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing thousands of people.

Sudanese women walk to Juba, the capital of Sudan to see the Pope in the "Walking for Peace" pilgrimage led by Catholic Bishop Christian Carlassare of Rumbek, Anglican Bishop Alapayo Manyang Kuctiel of Rumbek and Rin Tueny, governor of Lakes State.

Children drive their donkey in the traditional blessing of Italian farm animals and military horses outside St. Peter's Square on January 17, 2023.