Rhina Guidos

Sisters in Mexico say they are praying for peace in their country after more than 60 people died during and after the Feb. 22 capture of a drug lord whose death sparked violence.

Ronald Hicks said, " 'I need you to do this,' " said Samuel Jiménez. "And that's why I'm here."

Staff and the young people who found a home and a family at Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos have kept their ties with Archbishop-elect Ronald Hicks, who once lived and worked with them in tiny Texistepeque, El Salvador.

Held as El Salvador experiences repression that President Bukele defends as needed to stop gang violence, the prayer breakfast was said to be organized by the Próspera Foundation, linked to right-wing Christian groups.

The document, titled "Be Born Again," is a guide to help the leading organization representing religious life in Latin America and the Caribbean discern and take action.

From the moment he arrived in El Salvador to work with Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a program for underprivileged children, "Padre Ron," now archbishop-elect of New York, seemed to fit in, recalls a former colleague.

The viral illness comes on the heels of Cuba's slow recovery from Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall Oct. 29 in Santiago de Cuba in the eastern part of the island as a Category 3 storm.

"We are witnessing a comprehensive governmental assault designed to produce fear and terror among millions of men and women," Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy said in a Sept. 28 homily.

"Everyone is susceptible to being detained," said Scalbrinian Sr. Leticia Gutiérrez Valderrama, who accompanies migrant families in the El Paso court system.

In a pastoral letter that seems to take a shot at both the U.S. government and their own, the Salvadoran Catholic bishops said El Salvador's prisons shouldn't be used to advance another country's anti-immigrant agenda.

In a moment reminiscent of Pope John Paul II's 1978 installation Mass, the new pope said, in Italian, "Be not afraid! Welcome the call of the church and of Christ the Lord." 

For cardinals who came from such different parts of the world, it was a feat but also an act of unity to elect someone in less than 24 hours, Cardinal Wilton Gregory told the press. "I think we did well."

"You have to trust the process … you don't want them to rush it," said Elizabeth Whelan of Newfoundland, Canada. 

No man received 89 votes, or two-thirds of the 133 cardinal electors.

As people watched the papal election process unfold, advocates for issues including female clergy expressed hopes and fears for what's to come when a new pontiff is elected. 

 Brian Burch, nominated by Donald Trump to become the next ambassador to the Holy See, tied to fake news about the health of Cardinal Pietro Parolin. 

For the second Sunday in a row, the balcony from where the pope prays the traditional Angelus remained empty. An unusual quiet blanketed the streets of Rome, with fewer of the usual crowds of faithful and tourists.

At least one U.S. bishop said President Donald Trump needs to apologize, and even his closest prelate in the church, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, said it was "not good."

Despite the warm embrace from Romans and while Rome observes nine days of mourning for the popular late pope, a few of Francis' detractors inside the College of Cardinals are speaking out. 

Despite hopes for potential sainthood, in Argentina, "we cry because we did not fully understand or appreciate the extent of his global leadership," said an Argentine priest.