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In his message for Lent 2023, Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to listen to what Jesus wants to tell them through the Scriptures and through others.

Using the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration as a launching point, Francis addressed both the journey of Lent and the Catholic Church’s ongoing Synod on Synodality in the message released Feb. 17.

The pope recalled “the command that

Pope Francis has "progressively improved" after spending the night in the hospital with a respiratory infection, the Vatican Press Office said Thursday.

The pontiff rested well during the night, Matteo Bruni, director of the Press Office of the Holy See, said in a statement issued in Italian.

"The clinical picture is progressively improving, and the planned treatments continue,"

The health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has worsened due to his age, and doctors are constantly monitoring the 95-year-old’s condition, the Vatican said Wednesday.

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Pope Francis, who asked the faithful earlier Wednesday to pray for Benedict, went to visit his predecessor in the monastery on Vatican grounds where the retired pontiff has lived since

Pope Francis asked Catholics around the world to join him in entrusting to Mary “the universal desire for peace, especially for the martyred Ukraine, which is suffering so much.”

Reciting the Angelus prayer at midday Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis noted the Angel Gabriel’s words to Mary that “nothing will be impossible for God.”

“With God’s help,