Amid wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, this year’s World Mission Sunday is “even more important” than ever, said an executive from the U.S. offices of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Members of the Synod of Bishops will issue a “Letter to the People of God” at the close of the first session of the synod assembly, which ends Oct. 29, the Vatican said.

Amid the Israel-Hamas war, more than half a million children across the world prayed the rosary for peace.

Taking to heart the lesson of the parable of the good Samaritan is the key to assisting the millions of migrants and refugees forced to travel far from their homelands and often exploited along the way, Pope Francis said.

The Vatican, especially Pope Francis, must double its efforts and urge the international community to end the massacre of Palestinians killed in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war, Palestine’s ambassador to Denmark said.

The Catholic Church’s synodal process, intended to actively solicit input from all its members, is not a threat to the hierarchy, a cardinal said.

Nicaragua has expelled a dozen priests held as political prisoners as the increasingly tyrannical regime continues sending clergy into exile and cracking down on the Catholic Church.

An attack on a Christian hospital in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war has left staff at the U.S. offices of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association reeling.

President Joe Biden arrived in Israel Oct. 18 to demonstrate the United States’ support for its ally amid the conflict, and suggested “the other team” was responsible for a blast at a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds, according to a claim from the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

The complex dynamics among three of the world’s major faith traditions — Islam, Judaism and Christianity — have been at once highlighted and strained by the war, which was sparked by Hamas’ militants Oct. 7 ambush on approximately 22 locations in Israel.