On Friday, I went to Regina Cleri to visit Father John Doyle, whose health was failing. His niece was there with us and we had an opportunity to pray together. Sadly, just a couple of days later, on Sunday, he passed away.

BRAINTREE -- Father Michael Nolan got the idea for Seven Miles From Jerusalem while returning home from a pilgrimage he had led in the Holy Land. The pilgrims were mostly retired people who, though they were already strong in their faith, said they learned a great deal from the trip.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catalina Galinanes, this year's student speaker at the March for Life rally on the National Mall, has been to almost as many marches as Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Francis "has our backs" in the pro-life cause, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, said to applause in his Jan. 23 homily at the opening Mass of the National Vigil for Life.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President Donald Trump credited attendees at the 47th annual March for Life for their commitment to protect the life of unborn and born children. "Together we are the voice for the voiceless," Trump told tens of thousands of people gathered at a noontime rally Jan. 24 on the National Mall.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Little Sisters of the Poor are once again going to the Supreme Court. The order of women religious who care for the elderly poor have been down this road before, twice defending their right to not comply with the government's health law requiring employers to provide contraceptive coverage in their health plans.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Strong opinions on both sides of the abortion debate are front and center in the paperwork currently filed with the Supreme Court for its upcoming abortion case. The case challenges a Louisiana law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. The court also will examine a separate petition by the state that questions if the abortion providers have the legal standing to challenge the state law on behalf of their patients.

WORCESTER, Mass. (CNS) -- Officials at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester are "stunned and saddened" over the death of sophomore Grace Rett, 20, a star rowing athlete who died from injuries she sustained in a motor vehicle crash early Jan. 15 in Florida during a winter training trip.

MINNEAPOLIS (CNS) -- Catholics may be surprised to learn that many U.S. bishops describe their lives as both all-consuming and satisfying, a priest-researcher said. "These are guys who generally get up very, very early in the morning, pray about two hours every day and work about 10 hours a day," Father Stephen Fichter, a research associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate in Washington, which conducted the survey. "(They) just really do some interesting things and there are a lot of difficulties that they're dealing with all the time."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After Pope Francis and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met privately for nearly an hour at the Vatican, Pence told the pope that his Roman Catholic mother will be pleased with the visit.