Meeting the U.S.-born patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Pope Francis expressed his hope that Christians of the East and West could finally agree on a common date for celebrating Easter.

Jens Manuel Krogstad of the Pew Research Center, in his work studying Latino demographics and politics, noted that Latinos do not identify as strongly with either the Democratic or Republican parties as do other Americans.

A bill on same-sex marriage advancing in the Senate is “a bad deal for the many courageous Americans of faith and no faith who continue to believe and uphold the truth about marriage in the public square today,” said New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

With several of his cousins and their children and grandchildren present, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the Asti cathedral, giving a nod to his family roots and drawing people’s attention to the root of Christian faith: the cross of Jesus.

The inaugural Symposium for the Advancement of Catholic Health Care on Nov. 12 didn’t try to advance policy proposals, but it had a single message: Keep fighting.

“The church did not close during the pandemic,” Sean Callahan, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, told the U.S. bishops during their Nov. 14-17 general assembly in Baltimore.

An advisory body to the U.S. bishops has called for the development of practical and pastoral guidance on gender dysphoria to help laypeople and clergy in their ministries in parishes, schools and other settings.

The Vatican is willing to do whatever it takes to broker a cease-fire and bring an end to the war on Ukraine, Pope Francis said.

Ukraine, like any nation under attack, has a legitimate right to self-defense and to seek justice, but great care also must be taken to defend the hearts of Ukrainians from hatred and a desire for vengeance, said the Vatican secretary of state.

Even though pushing for reforms in the U.S. immigration system has been a priority, “as we know, not much has happened,” Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville of Washington said Nov. 16.