Dubbed “Cor” — Latin for “heart” — the initiative is designed, its website says, “to form and strengthen Catholic men in faith and virtue as missionary disciples by drawing them into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer, formation, and fraternity.”

olding a Synod of Bishops with a much greater participation of non-bishops as voting members, particularly lay women and men, clearly expresses what it really means to be a bishop, said Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe.

The fate of two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests remains unknown almost a year after their capture by the Russian National Guard amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to Forum 18, an Oslo, Norway-based news service that covers religious and intellectual freedom violations in several countries.

Pope Francis has lifted the statute of limitations on abuse accusations against Father Marko Rupnik to allow for a formal investigation of the case by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The youngest member of the synod assembly is confident that the Holy Spirit is guiding the Synod of Bishops, but to get out of class he looked for a little extra help from the pope.

As the Catholic Church’s synod on synodality continues, it is drawing on lessons learned from decades of ecumenical friendships and dialogues and is sharing its experience with ecumenical partners with one goal in mind: helping all Christians take responsibility for the mission of sharing the Gospel, said several synod participants.

The number of legal abortions provided by virtual-only clinics via abortion pill prescriptions spiked 72 percent in the year following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, according to a report by #WeCount, a research project by the Society of Family Planning, a group that supports legal abortion.

Father Daniel Greenleaf, pastor of Prince of Peace Parish in Lewiston, told OSV News that he is interceding for at least 18 people killed and 13 injured in an Oct. 25 attack in his town, as well as for their families and law enforcement.

Carrying candles into an empty St. Peter’s Basilica, participants in the synod on synodality prayed the rosary for peace Oct. 25.

As the Israel-Hamas war nears its fourth week, the pastor of Gaza’s only Catholic church urged prayers for peace, the release of hostages and delivery of humanitarian aid, telling OSV News his parishioners are experiencing “a terrible situation, a crazy situation.”