As the world grapples with “mounting challenges,” the global community must “recommit to the foundational pillars” of peace, justice and truth, learning from history and building a more equitable future, a top Vatican diplomat told the United Nations.

Asked about some Catholics’ criticism of the Archdiocese of Chicago giving an award to Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, Pope Leo XIV said, “I would ask first and foremost that there be greater respect for one another.”

Antonio Luna, now a deacon for the Diocese of Orange, Calif., shared his story at this year’s Mass in Recognition of All Immigrants, held Sept. 21 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Luna’s tale echoed what many immigrants in Los Angeles and around the U.S. are facing today: Fears of deportation, fears of going outside, fears of what may happen to their children and loved ones if they were sent back to their home countries.

Nearly 1,000 people joined the procession for the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees in the nation’s capital, which had “Migrants, Missionaries of Hope” as its theme.

Arnold Schwarzenegger told reporters he knows that people get “pumped up” spiritually at Mass, but he wishes he could go to Mass at least once and hear a homily on what Catholics can and should do to reduce pollution.

President Donald Trump released a 20-point peace plan to end the Israel-Hamas war Sept. 29, which was met with cautious optimism from some world leaders and skepticism from others as it remained to be seen whether Hamas would accept the agreement amid increasing international concern about humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.

Christian leaders in the Holy Land, as well as Palestinian government officials, condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly and blamed the Israeli occupation for the decreasing number of Christians in the area. 

Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics to join him in praying that members of different religions would work together to make life better for everyone rather than allowing their different beliefs to be used “as weapons or walls.”

This October, over a million children around the world will lift their voices in prayer as pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need marks the 20th anniversary of its One Million Children Praying the Rosary campaign. What began in 2005 as a small gathering in Venezuela has grown into a global movement reaching across every continent.

The third meeting of the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Commission Sept. 29 examined a range of religious liberty issues related to public and private schools, as well as reflections on recent instances of violence at houses of worship.