Rather than engage in petty gossip which leads to scandal, Christians are called by Jesus to be direct yet loving in offering help to an errant friend, Pope Francis said.

Rescuers continue to search through the rubble in the hopes of finding survivors after a powerful earthquake struck Morocco the night of Sept. 8, killing close to 2,500 people and causing widespread destruction.

The four attacks spanning some 77 minutes would kill 2,977 people that day. They would not be the only victims of those Sept. 11 attacks. More than 4,600 first responders and survivors have since died from cancers and other ailments incurred by toxic dust, fumes and fibers from the debris; thousands more continue to suffer.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York told OSV News the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, which will be marked with solemn ceremonies across the U.S., should be observed with memories of lives lost and impacted by the day’s events.

When California in 2021 relaxed its physician-assisted death rules — easing access to the lethal means for residents to take their own lives — several lawmakers behind the change cited a desire to aid the terminally ill, invoking a sort of legislative altruism.

From its beginning in 2021, the church’s synod on synodality has raised a question: Where is this worldwide process of listening to the people of God, especially those on the margins, going?

Inviting others into their rich liturgical traditions, fostering belonging in small communities and reaching out to the secular world via podcasts and “coffee shop ministry,” many Eastern Catholic parishes have unique ways of bringing people to full life in Jesus Christ as his disciples.

More than a year after floods submerged one-third of Pakistan, “women in particular are (still) being impacted,” said the head of programming for Catholic Relief Services in the country.

The Relic of St. Jude tour begins in Chicago Sept. 9 at St. John Cantius Church. Scheduled stops for the remainder of 2023 include parishes in Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa, followed by Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan.

Since Auxiliary Bishop Maksym Ryabukha of Donetsk was installed in December 2022, 10 months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he has driven more than 30,000 miles near the largely occupied areas of Eastern Ukraine to tend to his flock — and he feels right at home.