Junno Arocho Esteves

As the death toll in Lebanon continues to rise following devastating strikes by the Israeli military, the Vatican's representative in the country said the bombardment "is not the right path."

Pope Leo XIV sent Easter greetings to Catholics in Gaza as they celebrate Easter amid the fear and uncertainty of war, said Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Parish.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said an agreement has been reached with Israeli authorities to allow Holy Week and Easter celebrations to take place at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher after they were initially barred from celebrating Palm Sunday.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Fr. Francesco Ielpo, the custos of the Holy Land, were prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by Israeli police on Palm Sunday, the Latin patriarchate said.

In a pastoral letter published March 19, Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp wrote that the question is "no longer whether" married men can be ordained, but "when" and "who will do it."

As retaliatory strikes from Iran, as well as from Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, continued, people in the Holy Land — especially Christians — face a dire present and an uncertain future.

Belgian Cardinal Dominique Mathieu of Tehran-Isfahan surfaced in Rome after days of uncertainty about his whereabouts following the start of a U.S. and Israel-Iran war. In a brief statement sent to the Belgian Catholic news site, Cathobel, Mathieu said he arrived in Rome March 8 "not without regret and sorrow for our brothers and sisters in Iran."

Pope Leo XIV called for an end to the war in Iran and warned that the conflict could drag more countries in the Middle East into instability.

As the scourge of war spreads across the Middle East, including Lebanon, the ones paying the ultimate price are the innocent men, women and children who want to live in peace, said Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Georges Iskandar of Tyre.

Catholic leaders from around the globe continue to express dismay at the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran. Pope Leo XIV, expanded his March 1 appeal for peace on Monday afternoon while visiting a Roman parish, saying that he was "deeply concerned about what's happening in the world: especially yesterday, today, and for who knows how many more days, in the Middle East."

In a statement published Feb. 24, the bishops said that during a Nov. 17 audience, the pope spoke with them about "the risks of subjecting faith to ideologies without mentioning any specific group."

The German bishops' conference announced that it has elected Bishop Heiner Wilmer of Hildesheim as its next president.

The Lenten season is a reminder that Christians are called to bear witness to Christ through authentic witness, not self-righteous indignation, Norwegian Trappist Bishop Erik Varden told the pope and Vatican officials.

Mexican bishops called on the faithful to follow safety protocols as violence broke out in several states following the military's killing of a powerful cartel boss.

In his Feb. 19 address to participants of the religious congregation's General Chapter, the pope said that authority in religious life should serve as a means of "animating common life" centered on Christ, while "avoiding any form of control that does not respect the dignity and freedom of persons."

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, strongly criticized the U.S.-led Board of Peace, an international body chaired by President Donald Trump to oversee the governance and reconstruction of Gaza.

Cuban bishops published a message Jan. 31 warning that the "elimination of all possibility of oil entering the country raises alarm bells, especially for the most vulnerable."

Pope Leo XIV, the head of the world's smallest state, may make a brief visit to Monaco, the world's second-smallest state, this year, the Vatican confirmed.

Media entrepreneur and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, whose arrest nearly six years ago prompted outrage around the world, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

While Church leaders in Spain hailed the process as a victory for migrants, in Italy the head of the Italian bishops' conference warned of widespread indifference toward migrants dying at sea.