Nigeria’s return to the U.S. list of countries of “particular concern” over Christian persecution has drawn mixed reactions from church leaders and triggered a heated debate in Africa’s most populous nation.

President Donald Trump said Oct. 31 he would place Nigeria on a religious freedom watch list in response to violence in that country perpetuated against predominantly Christian communities — and subsequently threatened military action if that country’s government didn’t “move fast” to respond.

On Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, Catholics in Chicago joined in commemorating the great Irish famine that left more than 1 million people dead and began the mass exodus of Irish refugees and migrants seeking a better life to the United States and other countries 180 years ago.

Nestled in the serene hills of Westchester County, N.Y., lies a sanctuary of compassion: Rosary Hill Home. Operated by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, this haven offers free palliative care to patients afflicted with incurable cancer.

Christ crucified and risen has tamed and transfigured death with his love, Pope Leo XIV said.

A delegation of clergy, religious sisters and laity, together with a Chicago auxiliary bishop, were barred for the second time in three weeks from bringing the Eucharist to those being held at an immigration detention center just west of Chicago on the feast of All Saints Nov. 1.

The same day Pope Leo XIV proclaimed St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the church, he also named the British saint patron of the Pontifical Urbanian University in Rome.

The pope celebrated Mass Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, at Rome’s largest cemetery, Verano, which covers more than 200 acres.

After reciting the Angelus prayer Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, the pope offered special prayers for the victims in el-Fasher, capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state.

Each June, the church invites the faithful to turn their own hearts toward the Sacred Heart of Jesus — a symbol of his boundless mercy and deep compassion for all humanity.