Nation/World

Just as people are “struggling to survive” in Congo, aid agencies are struggling to meet their needs, said one aid worker.

Though not as fast as a speeding bullet, “Superpope” will fly across the world, gathering autographs of sports stars and eventually being auctioned off to raise money for the pope’s charity.

Pope Francis said, during a meeting with an international group of law enforcement and church workers, modern forms of slavery “are far more widespread than previously imagined, even — to our scandal and shame — within the most prosperous of our societies.”

Named after Section 529 in the Internal Revenue System’s tax code, the plans allowed parents to invest money for their children’s college education. Now, 529 plans can be used to sock money away for grade school and high school tuition in private schools — including Catholic schools — while accruing the same tax benefits as have the college plans.

Catholic advocates visited Capitol Hill Feb. 6 hoping members of Congress were ready to listen to their push for a federal budget that makes the needs of poor and vulnerable people a priority.

The Vatican had said Jan. 30 that Pope Francis’ decision to send Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta to investigate was prompted by “recently received information” in the case of Bishop Juan Barros, who was named bishop of Osorno, Chile, in 2015.

Highlighting the Feb. 8 World Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking, the pope noted this year’s theme was dedicated to ending the trafficking of migrants.

Catholic priests must deliver good homilies so the “good news” of the Gospel can take root in people’s hearts and help them live holier lives, Pope Francis said.