Speaking to Catholic News Service Sept. 29, the eve of his induction into the College of Cardinals, the French prelate insisted the key to Catholic unity is “not to take refuge in ideologies.”

Speaking to reporters a few days before receiving their red hats, many of the 21 new cardinals said their induction into the College of Cardinals was less about them and more about their local church and its contribution to the universal church.

Cardinal Cupich said Cardinal Bernardin believed that the spectrum of life cuts across many issues, including genetics, abortion, capital punishment, modern warfare and the care of the terminally ill. Nonetheless, all these diverse issues are rooted in a single principle of Catholic faith: that the loss of even one human life is a momentous event.

Catholic Extension has named the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great as the 2023-2024 recipients of its highest honor, the Lumen Christi Award. The Chicago-based nonprofit, which since 1905 has supported Catholic faith communities in the nation’s poorest regions, announced the decision in a Sept. 27 press release.

According to the National Library of Medicine, an estimated 26 percent of all pregnancies, and up to 10 percent of clinically recognized pregnancies, end in miscarriage, the loss of pregnancy less than 20-weeks gestation.

Near the tomb of St. Peter, 18 seminarians from across the United States promised to dedicate their lives to Christ and were ordained to the diaconate.

Seven Republican candidates joined the Republican National Committee’s second debate of their party’s presidential primary process in California, sparring over topics including immigration, China policy, abortion and the economy.

President Joe Biden joined striking autoworkers in Michigan Sept. 26, becoming the first sitting president to join a union picket line, an unprecedented show of support to striking workers by a chief executive.

A Christian wedding party meant to celebrate the joining of young lives turned into a nightmare when a lit flare set the packed hall in northern Iraq on fire, killing more than 120 people and injuring some 250 others, according to local sources, as authorities warned the death toll is expected to rise with many more people still missing.

The synod on synodality should dedicate substantial discussion to addressing sexual abuse in the church and include the voices of survivors, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said.