Pope Leo XIV met with a top Russian Orthodox cleric, the first such visit from Moscow since the papal election, and one that comes amid strained relations with Rome due to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

“We should never get used to violence or lose our respect for the sacredness of human life,” said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, following a deadly mass shooting in that city that claimed four lives, including that of a New York City police officer.

At least 43 people, including children, were killed July 27 in a brutal overnight attack on a Catholic church in Komanda in eastern Congo.

Greeting tens of thousands of visitors crowded in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV welcomed all the young people who arrived in Rome for the Jubilee of Youth.

Religious communities can “contribute to the global architecture of disarmament and restraint” in several “specific ways” that foster dialogue, prevention and accountability, said Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, a longtime Vatican diplomat and disarmament advocate.

The Catholic Church in Poland is grappling with a shocking tragedy: A diocesan priest has confessed to the brutal murder of a homeless man.

More than half a million young people from 146 countries are set to arrive July 28 for the start of the weeklong Jubilee of Youth, which will include a special Jubilee dedicated to Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers.

Close to 800 young men from the Archdiocese of New York have responded to a call for interest in the priestly life, according to the archdiocese’s director of vocations.

For high school students yearning to attend a Catholic college, there is an encouraging development: Many Catholic institutions of higher learning are increasingly committed to making academia accessible through free, full tuition programs.

Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Detroit fired two prominent theologians from their longstanding roles at Sacred Heart Major Seminary July 23.