Staff of a charity serving Haiti are pleading for the return of a kidnapped Irish lay missionary and her companions — including a 3-year-old child — taken by armed gunmen who stormed an orphanage in Port-au-Prince, amid the Caribbean nation’s long-running armed gang violence and political instability.

The Knights of Columbus opened their 143rd Supreme Convention Aug. 5 in Washington, D.C., with a call to charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism, as Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly urged members to be “heralds of hope” in a world searching for meaning.

The fraternity fostered by the Knights of Columbus “contributes to our unity” and helps Knights grow in holiness and build up the Body of Christ, members of that Catholic fraternal organization were told at an Aug. 5, 2025 Mass to open their annual convention.

While enjoying a summer break from school or work, Catholics should not neglect “the Lord’s invitation to prepare our hearts by actively participating in the Eucharistic sacrifice and by doing generous acts of charity,” Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV commended the Knights of Columbus for uniting Catholic men in prayer and fraternity, while extending “generous service to vulnerable populations,” as the fraternal organization holds its 143rd Supreme Convention in Washington.

Archbishop Wenski argued that the border is now secure, and for the sake of the common good, Congress and President Donald Trump should pursue immigration reform and turn aside from a course of mass detention and deportation that violates human dignity.

The scars still borne by survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and still visible on the cities’ streets and buildings are a plea to pursue peace and disarmament, Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV visited a Spanish teenager who had to be hospitalized during the Jubilee of Youth and prayed with and spoke to the family.

A solo traveler, even using Google maps and ChatGPT, cannot safely and happily complete the journey of life or the journey of faith, Pope Leo XIV told thousands of young pilgrims meeting at the Marian shrine in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Two Catholic nuns and an Indigenous youth jailed for alleged human trafficking and forced conversion in central India have been released on bail under strict conditions by a special court dealing with terror cases.