Pope Leo XIV’s first papal trip abroad will be to Turkey and Lebanon Nov. 27-Dec. 2, the Vatican press office announced.

Celebrating vespers in the chapel of the Domus Australia in Rome Oct. 6, the eve of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, the pope said, “this devotion to Our Blessed Mother holds a special place in my heart.”

Catholics involved in interfaith efforts have offered their condolences to the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the death of their president, Russell M. Nelson, Sept. 27 at age 101.

On the Catholic Church’s Roman calendar, October is designated as the Month of the Holy Rosary, with the liturgical Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary falling on Oct. 7 — and indeed, it’s a traditional practice to pray the rosary all 31 days.

The U.S. Supreme Court began its fall term Oct. 6, with cases on its docket that include legal battles over some of President Donald Trump’s policies and use of executive authority.

Two of the most important tenets of the Catholic faith are the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and the pope as the successor of Peter, who unites and guides the church, Pope Leo XIV said.

At the Red Mass celebrated on the day before the Supreme Court’s new term, Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy emphasized that “men and women of the law are architects of hope by reason of their vocation.”

The Hamas attack on Israel two years ago “was inhuman and indefensible,” the Vatican secretary of state said, and Israel’s two-year-long war on Gaza has had “disastrous and inhuman consequences.”

As indirect ceasefire talks began in Egypt between Israel and Hamas Oct. 6 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt — aimed at finalizing a ceasefire deal based on a proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump — the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem lauded it as an “important and long-awaited first step.”

Police work is a service for the safety and security of people and institutions, Pope Leo XIV said, but it is also a way for Christians to give witness to their faith.