Pope Benedict XVI holds the cross as he leads the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome in 2007. (CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters) ...read more

Father David Regan reads during a brief break between hearing confessions at St. Patrick Church in Smithtown, N.Y., March 25, 2013. St. Patrick and all other parishes in the Dioceses of Rockville Centre, N.Y., and Brooklyn, N.Y., and the Archdiocese of New York participate annually in Reconciliation Monday, which falls during Holy Week and offers ...read more

Actor Mario Valencia, portraying Christ, performs during a baptism ceremony as part of Holy Week celebrations along the Rimac river in Lima, Peru, March 28, 2013. (CNS photo/Enrique Castro-Mendivil, Reuters) (March 29, 2013) ...read more

Men carry a statue of “El Nazareno,” the Black Nazarene, during a procession to mark the second Sunday of Lent in the streets of Guatemala City March 4, 2012. (CNS photo/Jorge Dan Lopez, Reuters)     ...read more

Pope Francis, in white, attends a weeklong Lenten retreat with senior members of the Roman Curia in Ariccia, Italy.(CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters) ...read more

In this video, Fr. Rob Galea talks about the Season of Lent. ...read more

Here is some of what we’ve been reading this week across the country: In Ontario, Catholic Crosscultural Services is helping government-assisted refugees settle into their home In Saskatoon, an elementary school has stepped up to sponsor a refugee family from Burundi. From Edmonton, we get this look at what Lent is and is not.   ...read more

Children exit a church after receiving ashes during an Ash Wednesday Mass in Guatemala City. Catholics around the world began the penitential season of Lent with prayer, fasting and the mark of ashes. (CNS photo/Joe Penney, Reuters) ...read more

‘I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH’ Message for Lent 2016 by the Most Reverend Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops My brothers and sisters in Christ, The readings of the liturgy for the opening days of Lent invite us to focus on some basic questions as we begin ...read more

Pope Francis released his 2016 Lenten Message based on the verse ” I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (Mt 9:13). Read the full text of his message, titled ‘The works of mercy on the road of the Jubilee,’ below: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (Mt 9:13). The works of mercy on the road of ...read more