Vatican City, Jan 29, 2020 / 04:45 am (CNA).- The beatitudes should be a defining feature of a Christian’s identity because they reveal the way that Jesus lived his life, Pope Francis said Wednesday.

“The beatitudes always bring joy; they are the way to joy,” Pope Francis said Jan. 29.

Pierre, S.D., Jan 29, 2020 / 12:26 am (CNA).- A bill aiming to ban sex-reassignment surgery and puberty-blocking medication for minors in South Dakota cleared a House committee Jan. 22, and is set to be debated in the House of Representatives.

HB 1057 would make it a Class 1 misdemeanor for doctors to dispense puberty-blocking drugs to those under the age of 16 for the purpose of changing or affirming the perception of their sex, and lists a number of surgical procedures including castration, vasectomy, and hysterectomy that doctors would not be allowed to perform on minors.

Mexico City, Mexico, Jan 29, 2020 / 12:00 am (CNA).- More than 50,000 Mexican young people made a pilgrimage Saturday to an iconic monument and shrine to Christ the King, situated atop Cubilete Mountain, over 8,000 feet above sea level in the Guanajuato state of Mexico.

The Witness and Hope Movement, which organizes the annual youth pilgrimage, said in a statement that the young pilgrims committed themselves Jan. 25 “to Mexico in these difficult times of insecurity, economic stagnation and the outside pressure it is undergoing.”