Calling St. John Paul II “one of the men who most shaped the last century,” Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to get to know him better, especially through what he did and wrote before being elected pope Oct. 16, 1978.

Following an investigation into an influential Peru-based Catholic movement that has expanded across Latin America and the United States, Pope Francis has expelled 10 members from its ranks for physical and spiritual abuse.

Whatever the outcome of America’s Nov. 5 presidential election, migrant and refugee advocates are predicting a challenging environment, said participants in a Sept. 24 video conference tackling the topic of how election results may impact Central America and those who are migrating through the region or coming from there to reach the U.S.-Mexico border.

Humanity needs to be motivated by spiritual values if it is to avoid being thrown into dangerous exploits and useless massacres, Pope Francis said.

With many of the concrete, hot-button issues removed from the agenda and turned over to study groups, some people wonder what members of the Synod of Bishops on synodality will be doing when they meet at the Vatican in October.

Following the death of an American woman in a so-called suicide capsule in Switzerland and the arrest of several people involved in her death, a Swiss bishop said the device is “dangerous” and that people willing to use the capsule should be deferred to palliative care instead.

For three days, Paris welcomed several thousand participants from around the globe who took part in the 38th “International Meeting for Peace,” organized Sept. 22-24 by the Community of Sant’Egidio.

Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon meant to target Hezbollah militants have led to over 550 deaths, including 50 children and 94 women, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Christian churches in the country are sheltering people escaping violence.

Pope Francis called the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East “unacceptable,” after Israel and Hezbollah exchanged increased airstrikes, with Israeli missiles killing hundreds in Lebanon.

In one of her strongest statements on restoring a national right to abortion as it existed under the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973, Vice President Kamala Harris has said she would support eliminating the filibuster in the U.S. Senate in order to bring back federal protections for a woman’s right to an abortion as they existed under Roe.