The 86-year-old Pope Francis and other religious elders gathered in a ger-shaped theater to speak of the earth and the divine, harmony and beauty, peace and the human family.

Pope Francis continues to make surprise additions to the College of Cardinals with plenty of “firsts,” and perhaps the most surprising of those “firsts” this time is just how many cardinal electors there will be.

After activists for legal abortion pushed back on some Republican presidential candidates’ criticism of some state abortion laws as being without limits, a prominent pro-life group cast those arguments as disingenuous and said some states actually do not limit the procedure in law.

In a cathedral shaped like a ger, Pope Francis met leaders of Mongolia’s tiny Catholic community, offering them encouragement but also reminding them that faith and unity must be at the center of their lives.

In a land bordering both Russia and China, and having deep ties with both, Pope Francis told Mongolian leaders their country can play “a significant role in the heart of the great Asian continent and on the international scene,” particularly in peacemaking.

Leaders are still unpacking what a “marriage catechumenate” means for the church in the U.S.

Greeted with “aaruul,” a dried yogurt cheese, which he tried, Pope Francis arrived in Ulaanbaatar for a four-day visit.

A priest who fled the country with a recent Catholic high school graduate will be laicized, Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Alabama, has announced on the archdiocese’s website, as family concerns mount over their inability to reach the young woman who is traveling with him.

For the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation Sept. 1 and the Season of Creation that follows, Pope Francis “invites us to reflect on the relationship between justice and creation,” said the chairmen of the U.S. bishops’ domestic and international policy committees.

The Ulma family was killed in Markowa for hiding eight Jews, including a 3-year-old girl, in their home.