It felt as if the whole country mourned and wept as family, friends and 3,000 other people packed the St. Louis Cathedral in Versailles Sept. 27 to say goodbye to 19-year-old student Philippine de Carlan, who was found murdered in Bois de Boulogne, or the Boulogne Forest, in Paris Sept. 21.

Synod members must imitate Jesus’ patience and acceptance toward others as they prepare to exchange contrasting visions for the future of the Catholic Church, an archbishop and synod member said.

Four Florida dioceses with substantial coastal exposure along the Gulf of Mexico have been assessing significant flood damage while activating regional distribution centers following Hurricane Helene.

Some members of the Synod of Bishops may need to let go of old ways of doing things and others may need to let go of a desire to make everything new; instead, all of them must allow the Holy Spirit to speak, said Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe.

Relief efforts are under way to help communities across western North Carolina reeling from the impacts of Tropical Storm Helene.

The concept of just war, which has guided Catholic teaching on war and peace since the fourth century, has become “devalued as a moral instrument” due to its application in modern conflicts, said Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of San Diego.

Iraqi Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil said tensions between himself and Cardinal Louis Sako, the Baghdad-based Chaldean Catholic patriarch, were the result of a misunderstanding and denied accusations he was working against the patriarch.

During a brief question-and-answer period with reporters on the papal plane returning to Rome from Belgium Sept. 29, the pope was asked specifically whether he thought Israel had gone too far in its most recent strike on Lebanon.

Every crisis, including what the Catholic Church can experience when people no longer care about religion or have distanced themselves from the faith, is meant to wake Christians up from their slumber, make them ask questions and to change, Pope Francis told bishops, priests, religious and pastoral workers.

Amid ongoing and potentially escalating conflict in both the Middle East and Ukraine, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin cautioned gathered delegates at the 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York Sept. 28 that, “peace is only possible if it is wanted.”