Religion, at its core, is not a source of conflict but a source of healing and reconciliation, Pope Leo XIV said.

Amid his eighth apostolic visit to the U.S. Sept. 14-25, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople addressed attendees at a Sept. 16 State Department dinner in his honor, hosted by Deputy Secretary of State Michael J. Rigas.

The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need expressed its “deep concern and solidarity” with the families of the victims of a brutal attack carried out on the night of Sept. 8-9 in Ntoyo in the area of St. Joseph of Manguredjipa Catholic Parish, which is in the Congolese province of North Kivu.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced its “Healing and Hope” initiative as a “new component” of the USCCB’s National Catholic Mental Health Campaign.

As tens of thousands of Palestinians were fleeing their homes as Israel launched a major new ground offensive in Gaza City, Pope Leo XIV expressed his “profound closeness to the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Pope Leo XIV praised the late Duchess of Kent, who joined the Catholic Church in 1994, for her “Christian goodness” and her many years of charity work and care for vulnerable people.

Three elderly women religious in Austria fled their nursing home and have returned to their longtime monastery, defying church superiors in a case that highlights the impact of Vatican regulations regarding aging members of dwindling religious congregations.

Just a few hours after Israel launched a major new ground offensive in Gaza City, Pope Leo XIV called the pastor of the city’s only Latin-rite parish to express his concern, his prayers and his closeness, the Vatican press office said.

The same week President Donald Trump spoke at a hearing of the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Commission in Washington, a key Catholic bishop said some of his immigration policies risk presenting the church with religious liberty challenges.

Vigilance, honesty, emotional intelligence and faith all play critical roles in healing from the long-term trauma of violent attacks, two Catholic psychologists told OSV News.