Church leaders in the Central African Republic appealed for international help in restoring order after a wave of attacks on Catholic clergy and churches.

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales offered prayers for the soul of Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister who died at age 87 following a stroke. Baroness Thatcher, who led Britain from 1979 to 1990, died “peacefully” the morning of April 8, according to her family.

Pope Francis’ priorities will include working for the poor, protecting God’s creation, strengthening interreligious dialogue, reforming the Roman Curia and evangelizing, a Jesuit priest told journalists at an April 3 event at the National Press Club in Washington.

Thousands of people in Miami, New Jersey, Boston, California, Illinois and other places gathered in early April to call for immigration reform legislation, to urge an end to deportation policies that separate families, and generally to open a nationwide push for immigration-focused changes aimed at Congress and the White House.

In his first appointment to the curia, Pope Francis named the superior of the Franciscans as secretary of the Vatican office that oversees the world’s religious orders.

The Rev. Nikolaus Schneider would not guess what impact the election of Pope Francis would have on the search for Christian unity, but the head of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany said his meeting with the new pope left him hopeful.

Celebrating his first Mass in the cathedral of Rome, Pope Francis called on Christians to trust in God’s endless patience and mercy.

Pope Francis reaffirmed the importance of responding decisively to the problem of the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy and called on the Vatican office dealing with suspected cases to continue carrying out its mandate.

Rafaela Gonzalez spent the wee hours of March 19 watching the installation of the first Argentine pope on the big screens outside the city’s cathedral. She spoke with admiration about Pope Francis, with disdain for the country’s political picture and with concern for the church in a country with an overwhelmingly Catholic population, but a flock moving further from parishes, priests and church practices.

Since his first public remarks on the night of his election March 13, Pope Francis has impressed many observers with a marked preference for describing himself not as the pope but as the bishop of Rome — a role he was scheduled to assume in a special way April 7 by celebrating his first Mass in the city’s cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran.