Pope Francis will celebrate the World Day of the Poor for the seventh time on Nov. 19. The 2023 World Day of the Poor will be traditionally hosted by the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.

The last of 10 defendants on trial for a 2020 “lock and block” invasion of a Washington abortion clinic was convicted Nov. 16.

Meeting Pato and a group of 25 people from Mediterranea Saving Humans, an organization that networks to operate rescue boats and assist newcomers to Italy, Pope Francis said he had read Pato’s story in the Italian Catholic newspaper, Avvenire, in July and had seen the photo.

After battling traffic for an hour, Pope Francis arrived at St. Mary, Mother of Hospitality parish on the far eastern edge of Rome for a meeting with area priests and a visit with people housed in 12 apartments the parish owns.

A Catholic pilgrimage, especially a pilgrimage to Marian shrines, should help people grow in their commitment to be missionary disciples, Pope Francis said.

For two days, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met in plenary assembly in Baltimore advancing key issues related to liturgy, living out the faith, including in the public square, and retooling the conference to better serve the church’s mission.

Returning from the first session of the Synod on Synodality’s global, monthlong gathering in Rome, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., has already seen much the Catholic Church can profit from, especially at the local level for the sake of the church’s evangelization mission.

Long moments of silence and listening to God’s Word are some of the many lessons contemplative women can give other Catholics, Pope Francis said.

The Nebraska Catholic Conference, Nebraska Right to Life and the Nebraska Family Alliance and other pro-life groups are criticizing a newly launched effort to put abortion protections on the ballot in their state in 2024.

The president of the Polish bishops’ conference has bitterly criticized demands for liberal change by the church in neighboring Germany and urged the pope not to allow them to dominate the Rome Synod on Synodality.