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Pope Francis asked for prayers as he spoke about the future of the Church and his pontificate so far in an interview published in the early hours of Sunday. Speaking to the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, Francis declined to evaluate his pontificate so far, saying the Lord will judge his life one day based on whether he practiced the Corporal Works of Mercy as taught by Jesus. “The Church is not a business, or an NGO, and the pope is not an administrator who has been commissioned to balance the numbers at the end of the year,” he said, according to an English transcript published on Il Fatto Quotidiano March 12. According to the pope, it’s not easy to pay attention to God’s will and put it into practice: “It’s necessary to attune yourself with the Lord, not with the world.” Asked about his wish for the world, Pope Francis responded: “peace.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253848/not-an-easy-job-pope-francis-asks-for-prayers-on-10th-anniversary-as-pope
The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, has ordered the closing of the Vatican embassy in Managua and the Nicaraguan embassy to the Holy See in Rome, according to Reuters. And according to the AP, Vatican sources confirmed there had been a request from Nicaragua to shut down the two embassies. The proposal to suspend relations between the Vatican and Nicaragua follows just days after Pope Francis likened Nicaragua’s Sandinista government to Nazi Germany in an interview. He also called Ortega “unstable.” Ortega, who leads Nicaragua’s socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front party, has governed Nicaragua continuously since 2007 along with his wife, Rosario Murillo, who is now the vice president. The regime has variously been accused of corruption, voter fraud, imprisoning critical dissenters and journalists, and committing violent human rights abuses against the people of Nicaragua.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253850/report-nicaragua-to-close-vatican-embassy-in-managua-nicaraguan-embassy-to-holy-see
Today, the Church celebrates Saint Roderick, a priest in Cabra, Spain during the persecution of Christians by the Moors. Authorities accused Roderick of apostacy under Sharia Law and he was imprisoned. While in prison, he met a man named Solomon, also charged with apostasy. After a long imprisonment, they were both beheaded.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-roderick-176