VATICAN – Sitting in a small circle with Pope Francis in the papal library, five bishops of Pakistan felt like they were having a family discussion, including about their problems, said Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi.

CORNWALL, ONT. – The Vatican’s representative in Canada has urged Canada’s bishops to build on the “moment of grace” and “fresh wind” of their ad limina visits to Rome earlier this year.

EDMONTON – Archbishop Richard Smith doesn’t know if Pope Francis is coming to Canada but he is convinced the Pope has been deeply affected by the testimonies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

VATICAN CITY – Without waiting for some well-researched, detailed plan with action items and measurable goals, Catholics in Quebec must go out and share the Gospel, Pope Francis told the bishops of the province.

MONTREAL – While the Quebec bishops are in Rome for their ad limina visits, they have expressed solidarity with those affected by the floods in their Canadian province.

As the Ontario bishops completed their ad limina visit to Rome last week, I couldn’t help but recall one of my favourite stories about one of Ontario’s favourite bishops.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has offered encouragement to Ontario’s bishops in their fight for conscience rights for health care workers.

VATICAN CITY – "That's your bishop!" a woman shouted to Seamus McKelvey of Winnipeg, Manitoba, as he leaned in for an impromptu picture with three prelates posing for a professional portrait with St. Peter's Basilica in the background.

VATICAN CITY – Sitting in a circle with nine other bishops, discussing with Pope Francis the joys and challenges of ministry, Bishop Claude Champagne of Edmundston, New Brunswick, said, "I recognized the one who wrote 'The Joy of the Gospel.' It was the same guy."

Atlantic Canada bishops will lead off two months of visits to Rome which will see all of Canada’s active bishops participate in “ad limina” meetings with a Pope for the first time since 2006.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis mourned the deaths of all those killed in extremist and ethnic violence in Kenya, and admonished the perpetrators to "come to their senses and seek mercy."

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Knights of Columbus is providing $400,000 to relief programs sponsored by the Catholic Church in Ukraine.

ROME - Celebrating Mass in Pope Benedict XVI's cathedral, Rome's Basilica of St. John Lateran, a group of U.S. bishops prayed for the Pope and reflected on what they need to do to respond to his call for a new evangelization.

Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs was the homilist and principal celebrant of an evening Mass May 3 during the "ad limina" visit of bishops from Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming.

On the eve of the bishops' meeting with Pope Benedict, Bishop Sheridan led his fellow bishops in a reflection on the Pope's insistence that strengthening the faith of Catholics, reviving the faith of those who have fallen away and sharing the Gospel with others means they must preach that Jesus is the son of God and continues to live in the church and the Eucharist.

VATICAN CITY - Bishops make their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican to report on how well they have cared for their faithful, but also to give thanks to God for their bonds with the Pope, the successor of the Apostle Peter, said Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington.

Presiding at Mass Jan. 16 at the tomb of St. Peter, the cardinal led his fellow bishops in singing the creed in Latin and thanking God for the gift of apostolic faith that lives through the ministry of the Pope.

"Our celebration is a visible sign of the communion of faith spread throughout the whole world and how it is anchored here in Rome, where Peter lives now, bearing the name Benedict XVI," the cardinal said.