Decades of conflict ahead of independence in 2011, followed by civil war and famine, has taken its toll on South Sudan’s education and health systems.

During a September visit to Ukraine, OSV News sat down with Bishop Stepan Meniok, a Redemptorist and bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s Donetsk Exarchate.

A consecrated virgin in Ukraine told OSV News she is grateful for her vocation, which enables her to “give all, day and night,” to those impoverished by Russia’s decade-long war against her nation.

Asked what a U.S. Catholic given a choice between voting for a person who supports abortion or one who supports closing borders and deporting migrants, Pope Francis said one must choose “the lesser evil.”

More than 100 people, including a Catholic religious sister, are still listed as missing after Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful storm to hit Asia this year, left at least 233 dead in northern Vietnam.

The excitement is mounting in Paris ahead of the Dec. 8 reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral with only a few cranes remaining on the outside of the iconic French church.

The 87-year-old Pope Francis not only survived the longest trip of his pontificate, but he drew energy from the crowds who came to see him, and he seemed to enjoy his 12-day visit to Asia and the Pacific.

Before leaving Singapore, the most religiously diverse country on his trip to Asia and the Pacific, Pope Francis urged young people to approach others with courage and friendship.

The event, which gathered Catholic physicians and their families, followed the theme “Imago Dei: Made in His Image, Male and Female He Created Them.”

A North Dakota judge overturned that state’s near-total abortion ban Sept. 12, ruling the state’s constitution permits abortion until viability.