Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expressing hope that Ukraine and Russia will cooperate on humanitarian aid and evacuations for civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky, the Vatican said.

The Trump administration on Oct. 18 extended protections from deportation to people from Ukraine and Sudan, allowing them to continue living legally in the U.S. for now.

Two Canadian Catholic bishops expressed sorrow and pledged prayer following a deadly fire at one of that nation’s military bases.

While Pope Leo XIV was recovering from an Oct. 13 surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung where doctors found cancer, his oldest brother Louis Prevost was in a Florida hospital receiving treatment for a blood cancer that had become very active after seven years of being at a “low level.”

Catholic leaders in Nigeria’s Diocese of Otukpo are appealing for prayers following the kidnapping of Father John Inalegwu Otache, pastor of St. Margaret Parish in Ajegbe–Awume.

France’s bishops condemned “unacceptable violence” that “gripped” the country over the Oct. 17-18 weekend, saying the scenes of rioting “plunged the country into shock, fear, and despair, raising numerous questions about the root causes of this crisis,” the bishops wrote in their Oct. 19 statement.

A priest in Ecuador was struck and killed by a falling crucifix while celebrating Mass, a tragedy captured during a livestream of the service on Oct. 17.

One week after Pope Leo XIV first revealed to the world that he would be undergoing lung surgery, the pope returned to the window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace Oct. 18, thanking Catholics worldwide for their prayers five days after undergoing lung cancer surgery.

Pope Leo XIV was discharged from the hospital Oct. 17 after doctors deemed him fit to return to the Vatican four days after lung cancer surgery.

Papal biographers agree that assessments of Pope Leo XIV’s future ministry remain premature following his recent lung surgery and cancer diagnosis, while praising his personal disclosure as a major, irreversible shift toward transparency regarding papal health.