Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington joined Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia Sept. 21 for an ecumenical prayer service to remember those who have been killed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to renew calls for peace for that war-ravaged nation.

A senior Russian priest dismissed President Vladimir Putin’s threats of nuclear war as “just words,” but said many young Catholics now fear being forcibly conscripted with their priests to join the war against Ukraine.

House sponsors of a new bill to protect pregnancy centers said the measure would require the Biden administration to publicly disclose how it is handling the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators of violent attacks on pregnancy resource centers around the country.

Marking World Alzheimer’s Day Sept. 21, Pope Francis asked people to pray for all those affected by the illness, including families and caregivers.

During a U.N. education summit, the Vatican’s secretary of state reiterated Pope Francis’ pre-pandemic call that education is “one of the most effective ways of making our work and history more human.”

During his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 21, the pope reflected on his trip to Kazakhstan Sept. 13-15 to support the small Catholic minority there and to attend the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

As Hurricane Fiona swept across the Caribbean, leaving behind numerous victims and material destruction, Pope Francis called for greater solidarity in assisting all those affected.

Retired Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, the longtime bishop of Galveston-Houston and a tireless social justice advocate throughout his priesthood, episcopacy and in retirement, died Sept. 19. He was 91.

Several U.S. Catholic bishops slammed the actions of Republican politicians who have recently begun to send out of their states groups of women, children and men seeking refuge.

While the report summarizing tens of thousands of U.S. listening sessions in the first phase of the Catholic Church’s synodal process has been submitted to the Vatican, the experience of synodality is just beginning.