As the Catholic Church’s synod on synodality continues, it is drawing on lessons learned from decades of ecumenical friendships and dialogues and is sharing its experience with ecumenical partners with one goal in mind: helping all Christians take responsibility for the mission of sharing the Gospel, said several synod participants.

The number of legal abortions provided by virtual-only clinics via abortion pill prescriptions spiked 72 percent in the year following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, according to a report by #WeCount, a research project by the Society of Family Planning, a group that supports legal abortion.

Father Daniel Greenleaf, pastor of Prince of Peace Parish in Lewiston, told OSV News that he is interceding for at least 18 people killed and 13 injured in an Oct. 25 attack in his town, as well as for their families and law enforcement.

Carrying candles into an empty St. Peter’s Basilica, participants in the synod on synodality prayed the rosary for peace Oct. 25.

As the Israel-Hamas war nears its fourth week, the pastor of Gaza’s only Catholic church urged prayers for peace, the release of hostages and delivery of humanitarian aid, telling OSV News his parishioners are experiencing “a terrible situation, a crazy situation.”

Republican Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected U.S. House speaker Oct. 25 following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a series of failed GOP nominees to replace him.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has reached out to known victims of Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik, asking to meet with them.

Father Marko Ivan Rupnik — a renowned mosaic artist who was expelled from the Society of Jesus in June for refusing to comply with ministry restrictions after credible abuse accusations — has been accepted into the Diocese of Koper, which is headed by Bishop Jurij Bizjak.

Writing to the world’s young people, members of the Synod of Bishops said they wanted to encourage them and help them fulfill their dreams, and they prayed that their own failings would not drive the young from the church.

The Catholic Church must continue discerning its future by listening to everyone, starting with the poorest and excluded, after the assembly of the Synod of Bishops closes its first session, participants said in a letter addressed to the “People of God.”