Ukraine’s religious leaders have appealed to Pope Leo XIV for his continued help in returning thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of war, hostages and deported children, as deadly Russian attacks on Kyiv and other cities in that nation continue to claim civilian lives amid stalled global peace negotiations.

Hugs and tears preceded a service the evening of Aug. 27 to mourn and pray for those killed and injured after a shooting earlier in the day at a Minneapolis Catholic elementary school.

A security expert told OSV News that parishes and churches can take several key steps to reduce the threat of attacks such as the deadly Aug. 27 shooting during a school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis.

Pope Leo XIV joined his brother bishops and fellow Americans in the U.S. in expressing condolences following a deadly mass shooting that took place Aug. 27 at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis shortly after the start of the school day during an all-school Mass at the adjacent Annunciation Catholic Church.

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda told media Aug. 27 that prayers offered from around the United States and world, including from Pope Leo XIV, have been “a source of hope” following that morning’s mass shooting during Mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 17 other victims injured.

Even in countries with the strictest separation of church and state, being a Christian means living and acting like one, Pope Leo XIV told a group of politicians and civic leaders from France.

A pastoral reflection on immigration from the Iowa Catholic bishops aims to present church teaching in a way that “transcends” political rhetoric and “fear and false narratives” about the issue often found in secular and social media, Bishop Dennis G. Walsh of Davenport said.

New Orleans’ battered, 300-year-old history has been marked by fire, pestilence and storm, but Katrina was unprecedented in scope and pain: 1,400 people died; 200,000 homes in Orleans Parish — 80 percent of the city — flooded; and hundreds thousands fled or were transported to safe havens across the country, many never to return.

Pope Leo has consistently turned his audience’s eyes to St. Augustine, the fifth-century bishop who continues to serve as a philosophical and theological heavyweight in Catholic thought.

Pope Leo XIV sent his “heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness” to all those affected by the “terrible tragedy” of a shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 17 people injured.