“People are starting to examine what they truly believe and what they value most deeply in their lives,” said Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez, who spoke Nov. 16 during the opening public session of the USCCB’s Nov. 15-18 general assembly in Baltimore.

Honoring two reporters who have covered the Vatican for more than 40 years, Pope Francis paid tribute to all journalists who work to explain what is going on in the world and “make it less obscure.”

Honoring an Australian theologian, a French philosopher and two German theologians, Pope Francis prayed that they may continually be inspired by retired Pope Benedict XVI’s episcopal motto, “Cooperatores veritatis” — co-workers in the truth.

With the U.S. Capitol at his back, Darian Benitez Sanchez Nov. 8 told the story of how his father used to take him to high school math competitions on weekends in Arizona, where he attended the Jesuit-run Brophy College Preparatory high school, and how his dad would wait hours for him inside a locked car.

A billboard will go up in New York’s Times Square during Christmas and New Year’s to promote and celebrate the evermore popular podcast “The Bible in a Year,” but more is in store for the program that topped the charts shortly after its debut in January.

The pope’s pilgrimage to Assisi Nov. 12 was dedicated totally to the poor in preparation for the celebration Nov. 14 of the World Day of the Poor.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services Nov. 9 blessed the first of 100,000 copies of the new sixth edition of the “Armed with the Faith” Catholic prayer book for members of the military.

Poland’s military archbishop urged security forces to prevent the illegal entry of refugees and migrants, as the country’s bishops’ conference announced a nationwide collection to help those amassing on the frontier with Belarus.

“St. Joseph’s vocation to foster the earthly life of Jesus is, of course, unique, but all of us have been called to the obedience of faith. Father McGivney envisioned his Knights, above all, as men of obedient faith, who, with their wives and children, would live their vocation to the fullest.”

The “Requiem Mass for the Homeless” Nov. 6 featured the sacred music of Frank La Rocca, composer-in-residence of the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship in San Francisco.