Traveling on an ITA Airways plane, Pope Francis set off on the longest foreign trip of his papacy.

In what was a devastating Sunday morning for hostage families, Israel said Sept. 1 that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents became outspoken global advocates for all hostages to be released.

The Holy Land’s sacred sites overflow with tourists in normal times, but with war in Gaza, most airlines have canceled flights to the region. The streets of the Old City of Jerusalem are deserted with merchant’s stalls shuttered.

This fall, Nebraska voters will have the unusual option to support either competing constitutional amendments over abortion at the ballot box. According to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Elections Division, it’s likely the first time in the state’s history that competing petitions have appeared on the ballot.

Labor Day marks a time to “recommit ourselves to building together a society that honors the human dignity of all who labor,” said two Catholic bishops in a joint statement ahead of the Sept. 2 national civic holiday.

Redemptorist Father Bohdan Geleta reflected on his experiences in an hourlong interview with host Taras Babenchuk that aired Aug. 20 on Zhyve TV, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s television channel.

The Earth is ailing, and it needs the prayers of Catholics as well as their personal commitment to caring for creation, Pope Francis said.

Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha hosted a diverse group of leaders from government, business, education, nonprofit, agriculture and religious organizations from across northeast Nebraska for a day of reflection on how to care for our common home.

Though the historical era of armies of women religious functioning as a workforce for the Catholic Church is over, the sister at the forefront of efforts to guide congregations through their transformations says it is also a time of new beginnings.

Respecting the God-given dignity of the human person and the integrity of God’s creation “are inseparable,” said Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.