When the U.S. bishops gather for their fall plenary assembly Nov. 10-13 in Baltimore, they will elect the next president and vice president for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Making the first state visit of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV met Italian President Sergio Mattarella and spoke of common concerns, including war, migration, ecology and Italy’s declining birthrate.

During a private audience with Pope Leo XIV, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva invited the pope to the upcoming U.N. Climate Change Conference, being held for the first time in the heart of the Amazon region.

President Donald Trump said during a meeting in Egypt on Oct. 13 that “phase two has started” of a peace deal between Israel and Hamas in response to a question from a reporter about when the next stage of negotiations would begin.

In a proclamation Trump signed Oct. 9, ahead of the Oct. 13 holiday, he called Christopher Columbus “the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth.”

“There is a way to punish without ending another human life: life-long incarceration without the possibility of parole,” the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote to Gov. Ron DeSantis, urging the state’s Catholic governor to stay the scheduled Oct. 14 execution of Samuel “Sammy” Smithers.

Modern hermits seek solitude not to escape the world but to learn how to listen more closely to God, to their neighbors and to creation, Pope Leo XIV said as he met about 50 Italian hermits who came to the Vatican for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life.

A Bible translation approved for private use by the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference has drawn some objections over the wording of certain verses addressing same-sex relations — but a Scripture scholar and consultant for the bishops told OSV News the text still makes clear the church’s biblical teaching on homosexuality.

Scenes of joy, relief and tearful welcomes flooded media across the world Oct. 13 as the remaining Israeli hostages were freed from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.

In separate videos recorded in English, Spanish and Italian, Pope Leo XIV urged every Catholic parish around the globe to observe World Mission Sunday Oct. 19 and take up the annual collection that supports Catholic missionary work.