The group Catholics for Family Peace Education and Research on Domestic Abuse organized a Mass Oct. 7 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month, observed every October.

Catholics should approach the issue of artificial wombs with both courage and caution, an ethicist stressed after U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers met about the new technology.

Bodies still remain strewn along roads and in communities as authorities go through the arduous and gruesome process of identifying so many bodies, some of which first responders have said were mutilated and burned beyond recognition.

Synod participants who have known war and conflict firsthand led the assembly of the Synod of Bishops Oct. 12 by praying for peace between Israel and Palestine, throughout the Middle East and across the globe.

With 364 members and dozens of special guests having the right to speak at the assembly of the Synod of Bishops, accurately synthesizing the discussion will be a major undertaking.

Father John Paul, rector of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute spoke with OSV News Oct. 11, four days after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip stormed into approximately 22 locations in Israel, gunning down civilians and taking some 100-150 hostages, including infants, the elderly and people with disabilities.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., was nominated by his fellow Republicans for speaker of the House Oct. 11, but questions remained whether Scalise can get enough votes from his party to become speaker in a vote before the whole House.

Luca Casarini, a longtime and well-known Italian activist, is a special guest at the assembly of the Synod of Bishops; he’s encouraged to speak, but has no vote. And he said he is learning a lot.

Two U.S. bishops have launched the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign, amid a global crisis in mental health and a decline in mental health resources in the U.S.

Pope Francis condemned Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel and pleaded with the militants to free their hostages unharmed, but he also expressed concern about Israel’s tightening siege on Gaza and its impact on innocent civilians.