Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals met virtually Oct. 13, discussing the updated draft of a constitution reorganizing the Roman Curia and steps to implement it, the Vatican press office said.

A statue of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the patron of immigrants, now stands overlooking the New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty.

On Oct. 13, the second day of confirmation hearings on her Supreme Court nomination, Judge Amy Coney Barrett made a clear distinction between policy preferences and legal precedents in responding to questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In the run-up to next year’s 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri, Pope Francis said he hoped people would read the Italian poet’s work, especially the “Divine Comedy,” which still resonates today.

“Thank you for your witness,” Pope Francis told retired Australian Cardinal George Pell as the two sat down for a private meeting Oct. 12, six months after the High Court of Australia overturned the cardinal’s conviction on sex abuse charges.

In an act of solidarity with the 350 parishioners of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Pearl River, a visibly upset New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond celebrated Mass Oct. 10 for a second consecutive week for the parish and reconsecrated its church and its new altar.

Indiana senators who introduced Barrett, remotely, to the committee near the end of the five hours of discussion about her, highlighted Barrett’s judicial talents and also emphasized that her Catholic faith should not come into question.

Thousands sang and applauded as Italian teen Carlo Acutis was beatified in a town dear to him and to many Christians around the world: Assisi.

For Acutis’ mother, Antonia Salzano, the heartbreak that all parents experience over the loss of a child has been mingled with serenity and joy as she prepared to see her son beatified Oct. 10 at the Basilica of St. Francis.

The treatment that President Donald Trump has received to fight COVID-19 has turned the focus on an experimental drug that shows promise in combating the coronavirus but is raising ethical questions about the cell line that helped researchers develop the medicine.