Everyday Catholics can love and accompany those in need, according to experts that directly serve or advocate for those struggling with poverty.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a “special pastoral message on immigration” Nov. 12, voicing “our concern here for immigrants” at their annual fall plenary assembly in Baltimore.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City was elected as the next president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He succeeds Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, who has served in that office since 2022, at the end of the bishops’ Nov. 10-13 fall plenary.

The U.S. bishops have given the green light to hold the 11th National Eucharistic Congress in the summer of 2029, in a Nov. 12 vote on the final public day of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Fall Plenary Assembly.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is on solid financial footing, having restructured some operations while weathering the end of key federal refugee resettlement contracts — but changes in resource allocations may be on the horizon, said the conference’s budget chair.

The faithful can expect a new edition of the Liturgy of the Hours by Easter 2027, according to Bishop Steven J. Lopes, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship who made the announcement Nov. 11, during the bishops’ fall meeting.

Six months later, Pope Leo XIV’s election already proved historically significant: the first U.S.-born pope, the first Augustinian, and the first pope born after World War II.

As reports spread that U.S. President Donald Trump appealed directly to China’s Xi Jinping to free jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai when they met in South Korea Oct. 30, American theologian George Weigel told OSV News that Lai “is a non-violent, deeply committed defender of not simply his rights to free speech, but to those of the people of Hong Kong” and that his “witness to human dignity and to basic human rights is an expression of his Catholic faith.”

A key procedural vote in the Senate signaled the beginning of a funding deal that may bring about the end of the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history. But Catholic groups expressed concerns that the potential deal leaves the matter of health insurance subsidies to a future vote with an uncertain outcome and just as premiums are skyrocketing.

As the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary next year, the U.S. bishops will consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.