Complaining can be “a poison to the soul, a poison to life” and “almost a sin” when it prevents people from building and strengthening “the desire to move forward,” he said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 12.

The Second Vatican Council was of great interest to the Orthodox world, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople wrote in an article published in the Vatican newspaper.

At the Vatican Embassy in Washington, Catholic advocates working to bring an end to the death penalty acknowledged leaders in the fight against capital punishment in the U.S.

The Second Vatican Council was the universal Catholic Church’s response to God’s love and to Jesus’ command to feed his sheep, Pope Francis said, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the council’s opening.

The bishops of Michigan’s seven Catholic dioceses are urging voters to reject Proposal 3, which they warn is “the most extreme proposal concerning abortion this state or country has ever seen.”

Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne said Oct. 7 he is “increasingly troubled” by Russia’s war against Ukraine and said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “irresponsible threats” to use nuclear weapons “are of grave concern.”

While the term “synodality” is not found in any of the 16 documents of the Second Vatican Council, the council’s vision and definition of the church is at the heart of what synodality is, said Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops.

Colorado baker Jack Phillips, whose refusal to make a same-sex wedding cake on religious grounds went to the Supreme Court, is currently fighting a ruling that he violated the state’s anti-discrimination law for refusing to bake a cake to celebrate a gender transition.

The best way to ensure that economic growth benefits everyone is to create jobs, especially for those who struggle most, Pope Francis said.

The refusal to help desperate migrants “is revolting, it’s sinful, it’s criminal,” Pope Francis said as he canonized a bishop dedicated to assisting migrants and a Salesian brother who had immigrated with his family to Argentina.