A divided and often skeptical Supreme Court heard two cases Oct. 31 challenging race-conscious policies used in university admissions to obtain diverse student populations.

During the month of November, Pope Francis is asking people to pray for children who are suffering because of poverty, war and exploitation.

St. Francis of Assisi is known for loving and celebrating creation and for being a man of peace and poverty, Pope Francis said.

Catholic bishops in South Korea expressed sorrow and offered prayers after more than 150 people died in a stampede during Halloween celebrations in Seoul. They also called for a detailed investigation to identify the cause of the incident.

The COVID-19 pandemic has weakened many parishes, but that community “in the midst of homes, in the midst of people,” is still an essential place for nourishing and sharing faith, Pope Francis told Italian young adults.

God always sees people’s potential, looking past their mistakes and understanding what they can become, Pope Francis said.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone said he was praying for the husband of House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi after police said he was “violently assaulted” at home early Oct. 28 by a man with a hammer.

With a renewed membership, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors met at the Vatican in late October and laid the groundwork for devising an annual report on child protection efforts by the Catholic Church globally.

Catholics around the globe long to share the Gospel with a world in need, but they see situations and tensions within the church that challenge their ability to do so, said one of the drafters of the document for the continental phase of the Synod of Bishops.

Pope Francis is set to make a four-day visit to Bahrain, a journey that will make him the first pope to visit the Arab kingdom just off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf.