Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon meant to target Hezbollah militants have led to over 550 deaths, including 50 children and 94 women, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Christian churches in the country are sheltering people escaping violence.

Pope Francis called the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East “unacceptable,” after Israel and Hezbollah exchanged increased airstrikes, with Israeli missiles killing hundreds in Lebanon.

In one of her strongest statements on restoring a national right to abortion as it existed under the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973, Vice President Kamala Harris has said she would support eliminating the filibuster in the U.S. Senate in order to bring back federal protections for a woman’s right to an abortion as they existed under Roe.

Christians must acknowledge the reality of the devil acting around them and remain steadfast in resisting his temptations, Pope Francis said.

Ending poverty, ensuring nuclear disarmament and regulating artificial intelligence, or AI, were among the issues highlighted by the Holy See at the 2024 United Nations Summit of the Future, held Sept. 22-23 in New York at U.N. headquarters.

Wars are destroying the world, and religious leaders must join together to urge their governments to “stop while there is still time,” Pope Francis said.

Numerous volunteers and professionals are doing everything in their power to make Pope Francis’ visit to Belgium go smoothly.

OSV News recently spoke with Father Michael Bechard, who alleges in a civil lawsuit filed in March with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that he was sexually abused by Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, a Vatican media expert, founder of a prominent Canadian national Catholic television network and organizer of the 2002 Toronto World Youth Day.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York said he is “disappointed” that Vice President Kamala Harris will not attend the Al Smith charity dinner Oct. 17, a New York Catholic charities fundraiser that has become a staple for presidential nominees in election years.

Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory celebrated a Sept. 22 Mass to mark the 125th anniversary of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington by reminding the faithful the church building is “something far more precious than a simple structure or a functional edifice.”