GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO

Associated Press

A woman prays for Pope Francis at Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Clutched by the global faithful and draped on candles and statues, rosaries abound for Pope Francis

As Pope Francis remains hospitalized in Rome, thousands of faithful from around the world have been gathering by St. Peter’s and by the hospital to pray the rosary for him.

A votive statue of Italy's patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi, left, is on display among other religious items at a shop in Assisi, Italy, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Who’s St. Francis, whose love for the poor, creation, and peace inspires Pope Francis?

St. Francis is the medieval Catholic saint whose spirituality focused on loving the poor, creation, and peace. He’s been a key inspiration for the pope — who chose Francis as his papal name.

Hasan Zaheda plays basketball with his son Riad in the courtyard of their house in Rome, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Syrian refugee family that Pope Francis brought to Rome prays for him as they build new life

Nearly a decade after Pope Francis plucked them from a refugee camp in Greece, a Syrian couple and their child have carved out a quiet life in suburban Rome.

Transgender Moira Camila Garnica poses for a portrait outside the Beata Vergine Immacolata parish church in Torvaianica, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Transgender women near Rome pray for Pope Francis, celebrate his outreach

As Pope Francis remains hospitalized, a group of migrant transgender women are praying for his recovery. The pope has helped them as part of his outreach to the marginalized. Their small-town church is about an hour’s drive from Rome.

People attend a rosary prayer with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez held for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at The Vatican, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Pope Francis stable a day after respiratory crisis, spent ‘long periods’ off noninvasive ventilator

Pope Francis remained in stable condition a day after a respiratory crisis. He spent long periods of the day Saturday off the noninvasive ventilation he needed to recover with less intensive high-flow supplemental oxygen.

A closed sign is displayed at a local business in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago to stand with immigrants in Chicago, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Some US businesses close in a ‘day without immigrants.’ But many say they can’t lose income

Several businesses from day cares to grocery stores and hair salons closed across the United States in a loosely organized day of protest against the President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

The Rev. W. J. Mark Knutson looks at a map of Oregon hanging above a bed at the Augustana Lutheran Church during a tour of the church on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Trump won’t ban immigration arrests at churches. Now clergy are weighing how to resist

Numerous faith leaders across the U.S. say the immigration crackdown launched by President Donald Trump’s new administration has sown fear within their migrant-friendly congregations.

Lucas Lopez leads a traditional Guatemalan dance during Mass celebrating the feast day of the Black Christ of Esquipulas at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Worthington, Minnesota, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

In Guatemala and Minnesota, holy feast brings migrant families hope and pride amid crackdown fears

Hundreds of Guatemalan faithful found the sounds and colors of their tropical homeland during the biggest-yet celebration of the Black Christ of Esquipulas in the heartland farming town of Worthington, Minnesota.

A man walks in front of the burning Altadena Community Church, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in the downtown Altadena section of Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

LA wildfires destroy numerous houses of worship. Clergy and congregants vow to persevere

Among the thousands of buildings destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires were a mosque, a synagogue, a Catholic parish and a half-dozen Protestant churches.

Nawal Hirsi, right, goes snow tubing with her family as part of a group promoting outdoors activities by Muslim women, at Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove, Minn., on Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell'Orto)

Scarves over headscarves, Muslim women’s outdoors group tackles snow tubing in Minnesota

Three years ago, a Somali-American mom in Minneapolis founded a group for Muslim women who want to enjoy the great outdoors.

Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

After shooting, Wisconsin school and church lean into Christmas message for comfort

For Christians around the world, Christmas is the joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus. The faith community at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, is leaning into the belief that God is present and hasn’t abandoned them just days after a deadly shooting there.

Dan Beazley stands with the homemade cross he brought from Michigan for victims of a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)

Official says Wisconsin shooter was new student at Christian school where her victims had deep ties

An official at the Wisconsin school where a student shot and killed a teacher and a fellow student says the 15-year-old was in her first semester there.

Border Patrol Chaplaincy program manager Spencer Hatch teaches during the Border Patrol Chaplain Academy class, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Dania Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Who are the Border Patrol chaplains? And why does the agency need more of them now?

Border Patrol agents are tasked with enforcing hotly contested immigration policies as many Americans at both ends of the political spectrum look askance at the border — and the agents.

Border Patrol specialist Mitchell Holmes, right, and Fish and Wildlife Regional Law Enforcement agent Kevin Shinn, use skills they learned in the Border Patrol Chaplaincy academy during a training session, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Dania Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Border Patrol trains more chaplains as the job and polarizing immigration debate rattle agents

The Border Patrol has been quickly growing its ranks of chaplains to help with mounting distress. With immigration at the forefront of the country’s polarization, agents wrestle not only with security challenges and the migrants’ suffering, but also rapidly shifting policies and constant public outr

A small group prays together in Spanish at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Worthington, Minn. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

In Amharic, Karen and Spanish, worship is like home for migrants in heartland town

At noon on Sundays in Worthington, Minnesota, an overflow crowd is still swaying to the Guatemalan band at Spanish-language Catholic Mass, Ethiopian Orthodox Christians are wrapping up their six-hour-long service, and at town’s edge among the cornfields, refugees from Southeast Asia gather to pray a

Under Swedish, U.S., and Karen National Union flags, people gather to share a meal after a Karen-language service at Indian lake Baptist Church in Worthington, Minn., on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Takeaways from AP’s report on how immigration transformed a Minnesota farm town

Immigration is a core issue for voters. Some of the 2024 campaign’s most charged political vitriol has swirled around its effects.

Children walk past El Mexicano, a grocery store in Worthington, Minn., on Sunday Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Minnesota farm town reshaped by migrants wrestles with real changes beyond the political vitriol

Immigration is a core issue for voters. Some of the 2024 campaign’s most charged political vitriol has swirled around its effects.

Brother Luke, an Orthodox Christian monk, holds his 10-week-old German shepherd Pyrena on the grounds of the New Skete monastery, where he directs the dog breeding program that has provided both financial and spiritual support to the community for decades outside Cambridge, N.Y., on Oct. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Learning about God from dogs, Orthodox monks breed and train canines in upstate New York monastery

A group of Orthodox monks in upstate New York takes the Christian imperative to care for creation more literally than most religious communities.

Wind-driven rain soaks a street in downtown Tampa, Fla., during the passage of Hurricane Milton, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Hurricane Milton disrupts Yom Kippur plans for Jews in Florida

Many Jews worldwide will mark Yom Kippur in fasting and prayer at their synagogues this weekend. But for the faithful in Florida, destructive Hurricane Milton has disrupted plans for observing the Day of Atonement.

Worshipers stand to say the names of loved ones in need of prayers during a Shabbat service, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

It’s a ‘very difficult time’ for U.S. Jews as High Holy Days and Oct. 7 anniversary coincide

Judaism’s High Holy Days annually provide an emotional mix of celebration, introspection and atonement for Jews worldwide.

FILE - Spanish language voting stickers which read "He Votado Hoy" ("I Voted Today") are offered at a polling place in Philadelphia, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Most Hispanic Americans support abortion access: AP-NORC poll

For decades, some political analysts have sought to depict Hispanic Americans as “socially conservative” — and indeed many of them are.

Jack Brennan Joins Brennan Investment Group as Managing Principal

Lutherans in Walz’s Minnesota put potlucks before politics during divisive election season

Midwest Lutheranism has entered the national political limelight since Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz became Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

Valentin Bontus, of Austria, screams with joy after winning the gold, during a men's kite final race, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Austria’s Valentin Bontus wins gold in men’s kitesurfing to conclude Olympic sailing in Marseille

Valentin Bontus of Austria has taken gold after winning two finals races in men’s kitesurfing which is the new, fastest sport at the Summer Olympics. Friday’s medals bring to a close sailing competitions in Marseille.

Ellie Aldridge of Britain celebrates after winning the women's kite final race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Britain’s Ellie Aldridge wins the first gold in kitesurfing, billed as the fastest Olympic event

Ellie Aldridge of Britain won gold after two close final races in women’s kitesurfing, the new and fastest sport at the Summer Olympics. Lauriane Nolot of France took silver and Annelous Lammerts of the Netherlands won bronze.

Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti of Italy celebrate after the Nacra 17 mixed multihull medal race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Italian sailors retain Olympic title in multihull. Austrian duo wins gold in mixed dinghy

Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti of Italy have defended their Olympic title in the mixed team multihull and Austria’s Lara Vadlau and Lukas Maehr combined to win gold in the mixed dinghy, a new sailing category for the Paris Games.

Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the gold medal at the end of the ILCA 6 women's dinghy class final race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Marit Bouwmeester wins women’s dinghy gold, Matt Wearn is Olympic champion again

Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands has won the gold medal in the women’s dinghy at the Paris Olympics, marking the fourth straight Games in which she has reached the podium. Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom took the silver medal.

Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands sails back to the harbour after ILCA 6 dinghy class final race was postponed during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Fickle winds scuttle medal races again, now in the biggest, most diverse Olympic sailing class

Fickle winds in Marseille have altered the sailing schedule for the 2024 Olympics for the second time, forcing the postponement of the medal races for one-person dinghies.

Switzerland's Elena Lengwiler leads the pack, with Marseille's Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in the background, during a women's kite race, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Kitesurfing, the fastest sport at the Paris Olympics, hits the water in Marseille

Kitesurfing — the fastest sport at the Paris Games — has arrived at the Olympics. The athletes go so fast — they can reach 80 kilometers (nearly 50 miles) per hour — that Max Maeder, 17, of Singapore had cuts in his wetsuit from hitting a kite that fell in front of him during racing.

A woman wears a t-shirt to help distinguish religions in the religious area of the Olympic Village at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Olympic and faith leaders seek reset after opening ceremony outcry, while chaplains welcome athletes

The 2024 Paris Games got off to a rocky start with many religious groups around the world, including the Vatican over a tableau in the opening ceremony perceived by some as evoking Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”

Finland's Sinem Kurtbay and Akseli Keskinen, compete in a mixed multihull race, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Mixed-gender boats start racing in 1st Games with equal sailing medal chances for men and women

The mixed-gender boats – both dinghies and a multihulls – took to the Mediterranean on Friday and Saturday in Marseille for the 2024 Olympics, just as the first medal races in skiffs and windsurfing were held.