Catholic News Service

Martha Hennessy, granddaughter of Dorothy Day, said her grandmother "loved the Staten Island Ferry, so what an honor to have one named after her."

From an altar set on a platform just above the waters that straddle the U.S. and Mexico, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, celebrated a Mass Nov. 5 to remember migrants who've died trying to cross the waters below or along the border in 2022.

Aging or declining membership should prompt members of religious orders to ask, "What do we do?" but not to despair, Pope Francis said.

French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, former head of the French bishops' conference, admitted to abusing a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago. The revelation came in a letter from Ricard read by Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, president of the bishops' conference, during a news conference on abuse Nov. 7.

Pope Francis has continued to call on Russian and Ukrainian leaders to negotiate an end to the war, but the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church told him Russia wants only the destruction of Ukraine.

Ethiopian Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel has welcomed a peace agreement that the government and Tigray forces signed to end the war in the country's northern region.

The French bishops' conference overhauled its agenda for its November plenary meeting to deal with "the anger, shame, powerlessness (and) incomprehension" they and their people felt after discovering that a bishop allowed by the Vatican to retire actually was disciplined for sexual abuse.

A spokesman for Ireland's deputy prime minister referred to Pope Francis' famous line "Who am I to judge?" after a priest said the politician would go to hell if he did not repent for being gay.

A Vatican office sent dozens of theologians and pastoral workers to refugee camps, prisons, shelters, street corners and markets in 40 cities and towns on every continent to listen to the faith experiences and, especially, the faith questions of people often tossed aside or ignored by society and even the Catholic Church.

Nigeria's Catholic bishops urge the federal government to devise a plan to fight flooding that affects Nigerians each year. This year's extensive flooding has affected about 1.4 million people in 27 states, with thousands of homes destroyed and several communities totally submerged.

Maryknoll Lay Missioners honored Merwyn and Kirstin De Mello with its 2022 Bishop John E. McCarthy Spirit of Mission Award on World Mission Sunday, Oct. 23.

As Christians await their death and the final judgment of God, the Gospel tells them what they must do to be welcomed into heaven: love others because God is love, Pope Francis said.

The saints were not "starched," picture-perfect conformists, Pope Francis said; they were "countercultural and revolutionary."

Catholic bishops in Asia have committed themselves to engage with governments, nongovernmental agencies and civil organizations to respond to issues affecting the church and society in their work for a better Asia.

The church in Latin America and the Caribbean is called to be a missionary church that heeds the cry of the poor and excluded; a synodal church where women, young people and laypeople have greater roles; and a church that is evangelized even as it evangelizes, according to the final document of the church's First Ecclesial Assembly held a year ago in Mexico.

The Brazilian bishops' conference congratulated Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for winning the nation's presidential election but noted there was still much work ahead.

Catholic bishops in South Korea expressed sorrow and offered prayers after more than 150 people died in a crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in Seoul. They also called for a detailed investigation to identify the cause of the incident.

God always sees people's potential, looking past their mistakes and understanding what they can become, Pope Francis said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has weakened many parishes, but that community "in the midst of homes, in the midst of people," is still an essential place for nourishing and sharing faith, Pope Francis told Italian young adults.

With a renewed membership, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors met at the Vatican in late October and laid the groundwork for devising an annual report on child protection efforts by the Catholic Church globally.