Pope Francis and U.S. President Joe Biden had an unusually long meeting at the Vatican Oct. 29, talking about the climate crisis and poverty, but not about abortion, the president said.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still underway and with restrictions on gatherings still in place in some countries, the Vatican has again extended the period of time when people can earn a plenary indulgence for visiting a cemetery and praying for the souls of the faithful in purgatory.

As is evidenced by the quantity of Netflix/Hallmark/Lifetime movies on the subject, Americans are somewhat obsessed with royalty.

Ahead of President Joe Biden’s Oct. 29 meeting with Pope Francis, panelists in a webinar offered mostly praise for Biden’s sincerity and what they said is his commitment to his Catholic faith.

Pope Francis is willing to travel to Canada as part of “the long-standing pastoral process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples,” the Vatican press office said.

Dubbed the “Rally Nuns,” the Dominican Sisters of Mary Immaculate Province, a growing congregation of Vietnamese consecrated women religious in Houston, became a viral sensation when they filled the rows of Minute Maid Park for two games of the American League Championship Series in Houston in late October.

Almost 60 years have passed since a Catholic president of the United States visited a pope at the Vatican.

A 2019 Pew Research Center study showed that 69% of all self-identified U.S. Catholics said they believed the bread and wine used at Mass are not Jesus, but instead are “symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” The other 31% said they believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said he had “a warm and productive meeting” with President Joe Biden at the White House Oct. 25 but that their discussion also involved a shared sense of urgency about the world’s climate crisis.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople was released early Oct. 25 from George Washington University Hospital where he stayed overnight on medical advice.