The prayer service Sept. 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, commemorated 1,624 Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants who died for their faith between 2000 and 2025

Dressed in the customary yellow colors of the event and with umbrellas in hand, elementary school student Aniela Alejandra Garcia and her mother, Yeily Garcia, didn’t let the weather stop them from approaching the statue of the Cuban Virgin of Our Lady of Charity.

Dozens of small handmade signs and large bold banners waved in the crowd of some 30,000 visitors in St. Peter’s Square wishing Pope Leo XIV a happy birthday Sept. 14. Two gold mylar balloons with the numbers “7” and “0” were held up high.

The widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk delivered an address Sept. 12, vowing that his legacy would live on and urging the nation, particularly its youth, to embrace faith, family and the controversial movement he founded.

The ornate, intimate St. Pier Giorgio Frassati Chapel at Immaculate Conception Parish is believed to be one of the first adoration chapels in the Americas named for the new saint.

Eight centuries ago, St. Francis of Assisi composed a poem that remains familiar today, inspiring hymns, art and the titles of two of the late Pope Francis’ teaching documents on integral ecology.

As Pope Leo XIV neared his 70th birthday Sept. 14, those closest to the American-born pontiff said they knew, very early on, that he was in for lifelong service to the church.

Catholics in the U.S. “like what they’ve seen so far” in Pope Leo XIV, with 8 in 10 viewing the new pope favorably — and significant numbers of non-Catholics agreeing, according to a new study from Pew Research Center.

At a time when people feel powerless to help migrants and refugees, Christians must continue to insist that “there is no justice without compassion, no legitimacy without listening to the pain of others,” Pope Leo XIV said.

President Donald Trump and law enforcement officials said Sept. 12 they had a suspect in custody in connection to the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk Sept. 10 during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.