Though events at the 2013 Boston Marathon included mayhem and the need for swift action, the father of a heroic runner slowed down to reflect in prayer at a Catholic shrine the next day.

At the end of a process that has taken her 15 years to complete, world-renowned Rwandan genocide survivor and peace advocate Immaculee Ilibagiza became an American citizen the morning of April 17 in New York City.

Several Catholic bishops warned the Nigerian government to be wary of the consequences of granting amnesty to Boko Haram, a sect that wants to impose strict Islamic law, and at least one said Mass attendance had dropped because the Islamist sect often targeted churches.

Heads of Catholic bishops’ conferences in France and Spain warned that the promotion of same-sex marriage could threaten social peace.

All of the baptized and not just the clergy are called to spread the Gospel, even in times of persecution, Pope Francis said in his morning homily April 17.

Marriage “is a unique relationship between a man and a woman” and it’s not the government’s place to “define or redefine” it, Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Wilmington said in an April 15 letter to Delaware legislators.

Pope Francis named U.S. Archbishop-designate Michael W. Banach, a Vatican diplomat, to be apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea.

Hundreds of people converged on Garvey Park in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester for an evening candlelight vigil April 16 to remember Martin Richard, an 8-year-old killed in bombings at the Boston Marathon April 15, and to pray for the Richard family.

When a team of health officials and investigators looking into illegal drug use raided Dr. Kermit Barron Gosnell’s Women’s Medical Society Feb. 18, 2010, they happened upon what many are calling a “house of horrors.”

Surrounded by the devil’s temptations and being susceptible to sin, people can always find help, support and forgiveness in Jesus Christ, Pope Francis said at his weekly general audience.