The Catholic faithful are mourning the death at Mass of Father Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari, parish priest of the Perpetuo Socorro Church in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
“Pétros Ení — Discovering the Origins” is scheduled to be released in theaters in February 2027.
France’s bishops appealed for an end to violence after a weekend of riots in which several buildings burned, shops were looted nationwide, and a Lyon interreligious peace march was postponed.
Sometime around the year 1837, a strange object passed an invisible cosmic mile marker: 1,000 astronomical units from the Sun. (One astronomical unit, or AU, is the average Earth-Sun distance.) For more than a century, it continued undetected toward our star. Finally, on Oct. 19, 2017, humans noticed the visitor. That night, a faint, thinContinue reading “Oct. 19, 2017: The discovery of ‘Oumuamua”
The post Oct. 19, 2017: The discovery of ‘Oumuamua appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
Read More| Picture of the day |
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PO boxes at the historic U.S. Post Office in downtown Chico, California. Today is International World Post Day.
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![Faith and tradition unite Peruvians at Paterson Mass #Catholic – Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped the Peruvian community from across the diocese celebrate the feast of Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles) during a Spanish Mass on Oct. 11 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., the mother church of the Paterson Diocese.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney concelebrated the liturgy with Msgr. Geno Sylva, rector of St. John’s and diocesan vicar for special projects. The Children’s Choir sang hymns of praise.
The Peruvian devotion features an outdoor procession through the streets to the Lord and all his miracles. Peruvians carried an image of Jesus Christ that was painted during the 17th century by an unknown African who was taken as an enslaved person from what is now Angola to Peru. The procession also includes an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Peruvian community celebrates Señor de los Milagros every October, on or near the 18th. It is the leading Catholic celebration in Peru, and it features one of the largest processions in the world in the South American country. Its name originated in the 17th century during an earthquake in Lima that destroyed most of the city, leaving only the image standing.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/faith-and-tradition-unite-peruvians-at-paterson-mass-catholic-bishop-kevin-j-sweeney-helped-the-peruvian-community-from-across-the-diocese-celebrate-the-feast-of-senor-de-los-milagros-lord-of-mir.jpg "Faith and tradition unite Peruvians at Paterson Mass #Catholic – Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped the Peruvian community from across the diocese celebrate the feast of Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles) during a Spanish Mass on Oct. 11 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., the mother church of the Paterson Diocese.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney concelebrated the liturgy with Msgr. Geno Sylva, rector of St. John’s and diocesan vicar for special projects. The Children’s Choir sang hymns of praise.
The Peruvian devotion features an outdoor procession through the streets to the Lord and all his miracles. Peruvians carried an image of Jesus Christ that was painted during the 17th century by an unknown African who was taken as an enslaved person from what is now Angola to Peru. The procession also includes an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Peruvian community celebrates Señor de los Milagros every October, on or near the 18th. It is the leading Catholic celebration in Peru, and it features one of the largest processions in the world in the South American country. Its name originated in the 17th century during an earthquake in Lima that destroyed most of the city, leaving only the image standing.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.")
Faith and tradition unite Peruvians at Paterson Mass #Catholic – 
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped the Peruvian community from across the diocese celebrate the feast of Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles) during a Spanish Mass on Oct. 11 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., the mother church of the Paterson Diocese.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney concelebrated the liturgy with Msgr. Geno Sylva, rector of St. John’s and diocesan vicar for special projects. The Children’s Choir sang hymns of praise.
The Peruvian devotion features an outdoor procession through the streets to the Lord and all his miracles. Peruvians carried an image of Jesus Christ that was painted during the 17th century by an unknown African who was taken as an enslaved person from what is now Angola to Peru. The procession also includes an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Peruvian community celebrates Señor de los Milagros every October, on or near the 18th. It is the leading Catholic celebration in Peru, and it features one of the largest processions in the world in the South American country. Its name originated in the 17th century during an earthquake in Lima that destroyed most of the city, leaving only the image standing.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
– Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped the Peruvian community from across the diocese celebrate the feast of Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles) during a Spanish Mass on Oct. 11 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., the mother church of the Paterson Diocese. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney concelebrated the liturgy with Msgr. Geno Sylva, rector of St. John’s and diocesan vicar for special projects. The Children’s Choir sang hymns of praise. The Peruvian devotion features an outdoor procession through the streets to the Lord and all his miracles. Peruvians carried an image of Jesus Christ
The proposed changes are expected to allow Christians to address a range of personal status matters under their churches’ laws, including marriage, divorce, wills, and adoption.
The pontiff, five days after undergoing surgery for cancer, said he would “gradually resume my activities.”
After surviving a life-threatening fire, Father David Obeng Paintsil called the rosary “a really powerful prayer.”
Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. October 17: Watch Wild Ducks Tiny Tethys is transiting the disk of Saturn beginning around 9:35 P.M. EDT, most easily visible from the eastern half of the U.S. Saturn is easy to locate in Cetus the Whale — it’s the brightest lightContinue reading “The Sky Today on Sunday, October 18: Another Tethys transit”
The post The Sky Today on Sunday, October 18: Another Tethys transit appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
Read MoreA reading from the Book of Isaiah
45:1, 4-6
Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus,
whose right hand I grasp,
subduing nations before him,
and making kings run in his service,
opening doors before him
and leaving the gates unbarred:
For the sake of Jacob, my servant,
of Israel, my chosen one,
I have called you by your name,
giving you a title, though you knew me not.
I am the LORD and there is no other,
there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
people may know that there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, there is no other.
A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to Thessalonians
1:1-5b
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
remembering you in our prayers,
unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love
and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,
before our God and Father,
knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God,
how you were chosen.
For our gospel did not come to you in word alone,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
22:15-21
The Pharisees went off
and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion,
for you do not regard a person’s status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
"Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin that pays the census tax."
Then they handed him the Roman coin.
He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"
They replied, "Caesar’s."
At that he said to them,
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."
Jesus replies with a surprising political realism, linked to the theocentrism of the prophetic tradition. The tribute to Caesar must be paid because his image is on the coin; but the human being, every person, carries in him- or herself another image, that of God, and therefore it is to him and to him alone that each one owes his or her existence. The Fathers of the Church, drawing inspiration from the fact that Jesus was referring to the image of the Emperor impressed on the coin of the tribute, interpreted this passage in the light of the fundamental concept of the human being as an image of God, contained in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. (…)
This word of Jesus is rich in anthropological content and it cannot be reduced only to the political context. The Church, therefore, is not limited to reminding human beings of the right distinction between the sphere of Caesar’s authority and that of God, between the political and religious contexts. The mission of the Church, like that of Christ, is essentially to speak of God, to remember his sovereignty, to remind all, especially Christians who have lost their own identity, of the right of God to what belongs to him, that is, our life. (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, 16 October 2011)
Read More![International rosary in Rome held in advance of 100th World Mission Sunday #Catholic An international rosary in Rome united clergy, religious, and lay faithful to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday.The rosary was held on the grounds of the Pontifical Urban University on Oct. 17, the eve of this year’s World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18. Led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals and Grand Chancellor of the university, the rosary was recited in 13 languages across five mysteries representing Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.The occasion also marked the 75th anniversary of the rosary’s establishment by Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, who was U.S. national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies from 1950 to 1966.Sister Mary Teresa Baron, recently appointed president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, was not present during the rosary.Several participants in the rosary explained how the faithful can support the Church’s missionaries beyond financial contributions.Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, who serves as a secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, urged a focus on the Word of God.“I am always a bit wary about monetizing mission,” Nwachukwu said to EWTN News. “So, I do not want to begin with money; I want to begin with the Word, because mission is all about bringing the Word of the Lord to the ends of the earth.”
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Dicastery for Evangelization, participated in an international rosary at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Oct. 17, 2026, to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News
At the same time, Nwachukwu indicated that supporting missionaries also means providing “the means to bring the Gospel to various places.” That support, he said, involves money.“[Today] is also an occasion to tell people: please, be generous to missionaries,” Nwachukwu said.Msgr. Thomas George Schluep, who also serves at the Dicastery for Evangelization, cited Pope Leo XIV’s message for World Mission Sunday as a reminder that unity in Christ precedes material support“Pope Leo, in his message for this 100th Anniversary of World Mission Sunday, reminds us that we first must be one in Christ,” Schluep told EWTN News. “Our baptism calls us to be missionaries: to share that love with our families, our friends, our coworkers.”Memories of missionaries, Pope Leo’s return from the hospitalParticipants also shared personal anecdotes about missionaries and their impact on their faith journey.Schluep shared his memory of Father Gerard Hammond, an American Maryknoll missionary priest known for his decades of humanitarian work in North and South Korea.“I met him in Korea, where he had been serving since 1960 when he was ordained and sent on mission. He was celebrated by thousands of people in South Korea for bringing the faith to them over the course of 65 years,” Schluep said.“In North Korea he could not speak of Christ, but his “apostolate of presence” and love for those suffering from tuberculosis was itself evangelization. He taught me a lot about the importance of being present to people, exactly where they are at in their lives, no matter the personal cost.”Around the time the rosary was taking place, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican after being hospitalized for surgery Oct. 13 at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Nwachukwu expressed happiness at his return and hoped that “the Lord will keep him quite long among us”.“We are all praying for him. We love the Pope, and we love what he is doing.”The contributions of AmericansSchluep, an American from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also noted the significant contributions of Americans, such as Blessed Fulton Sheen, to missionary work through the Pontifical Mission Societies.“The American contribution to the missions historically has been enormous,” Schluep noted. “It was a great joy to see Fulton Sheen beatified, who did so much to evangelize the United States, but also who traveled personally to so many missions around the world and did so much to raise funds for those missions.”
Cardinal Tagle stands before the image of Blessed Fulton Sheen during the beatification Mass in St. Louis on Sept. 24, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Schluep said he hoped the example of Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, would encourage renewed American support. “The fact that the Holy Father understands American culture and missionary life in Peru can help him in his particular guidance for us, but now he is the Pope of the entire world, and he calls us to think also of the entire world and not just our country, our families, and especially ourselves,” Schluep said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/international-rosary-in-rome-held-in-advance-of-100th-world-mission-sunday-catholic-an-international-rosary-in-rome-united-clergy-religious-and-lay-faithful-to-mark-the-100th-anniversary-of-world-m-scaled.jpg "International rosary in Rome held in advance of 100th World Mission Sunday #Catholic An international rosary in Rome united clergy, religious, and lay faithful to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday.The rosary was held on the grounds of the Pontifical Urban University on Oct. 17, the eve of this year’s World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18. Led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals and Grand Chancellor of the university, the rosary was recited in 13 languages across five mysteries representing Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.The occasion also marked the 75th anniversary of the rosary’s establishment by Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, who was U.S. national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies from 1950 to 1966.Sister Mary Teresa Baron, recently appointed president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, was not present during the rosary.Several participants in the rosary explained how the faithful can support the Church’s missionaries beyond financial contributions.Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, who serves as a secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, urged a focus on the Word of God.“I am always a bit wary about monetizing mission,” Nwachukwu said to EWTN News. “So, I do not want to begin with money; I want to begin with the Word, because mission is all about bringing the Word of the Lord to the ends of the earth.”
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Dicastery for Evangelization, participated in an international rosary at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Oct. 17, 2026, to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News
At the same time, Nwachukwu indicated that supporting missionaries also means providing “the means to bring the Gospel to various places.” That support, he said, involves money.“[Today] is also an occasion to tell people: please, be generous to missionaries,” Nwachukwu said.Msgr. Thomas George Schluep, who also serves at the Dicastery for Evangelization, cited Pope Leo XIV’s message for World Mission Sunday as a reminder that unity in Christ precedes material support“Pope Leo, in his message for this 100th Anniversary of World Mission Sunday, reminds us that we first must be one in Christ,” Schluep told EWTN News. “Our baptism calls us to be missionaries: to share that love with our families, our friends, our coworkers.”Memories of missionaries, Pope Leo’s return from the hospitalParticipants also shared personal anecdotes about missionaries and their impact on their faith journey.Schluep shared his memory of Father Gerard Hammond, an American Maryknoll missionary priest known for his decades of humanitarian work in North and South Korea.“I met him in Korea, where he had been serving since 1960 when he was ordained and sent on mission. He was celebrated by thousands of people in South Korea for bringing the faith to them over the course of 65 years,” Schluep said.“In North Korea he could not speak of Christ, but his “apostolate of presence” and love for those suffering from tuberculosis was itself evangelization. He taught me a lot about the importance of being present to people, exactly where they are at in their lives, no matter the personal cost.”Around the time the rosary was taking place, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican after being hospitalized for surgery Oct. 13 at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Nwachukwu expressed happiness at his return and hoped that “the Lord will keep him quite long among us”.“We are all praying for him. We love the Pope, and we love what he is doing.”The contributions of AmericansSchluep, an American from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also noted the significant contributions of Americans, such as Blessed Fulton Sheen, to missionary work through the Pontifical Mission Societies.“The American contribution to the missions historically has been enormous,” Schluep noted. “It was a great joy to see Fulton Sheen beatified, who did so much to evangelize the United States, but also who traveled personally to so many missions around the world and did so much to raise funds for those missions.”
Cardinal Tagle stands before the image of Blessed Fulton Sheen during the beatification Mass in St. Louis on Sept. 24, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Schluep said he hoped the example of Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, would encourage renewed American support. “The fact that the Holy Father understands American culture and missionary life in Peru can help him in his particular guidance for us, but now he is the Pope of the entire world, and he calls us to think also of the entire world and not just our country, our families, and especially ourselves,” Schluep said.")
The rosary, recited in 13 languages, also marked the 75th anniversary of the World Mission Rosary by Blessed Fulton Sheen.
| Picture of the day |
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Jaguar (Panthera onca) drinking from the river in Mato Grosso, Brazil
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Shortly after Artemis II splashdown on April 10, 2026, U.S. Navy divers captured underwater imagery of the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield.
Read More
“No clinical reasons why it should not take place,” said Dr. Stefano Margaritora, who called Pope Leo “an ideal patient.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/TAL-lead-image-ALLINMISTAKES0126-1a00734fa16a4adabc2fcbb38fd3d923.jpg)
![Morristown Knights honored for their selfless gift of service #Catholic – The sense of celebration was palpable on Oct. 10 at Assumption Church in Morristown. N.J. members of the Knights of Columbus George Washington Council No. 359 filled the pews.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 300 knights, spouses and other family members to celebrate the council’s annual Mass to mark the beginning of its fraternal year. The liturgy was followed by a dinner of appreciation honoring service and compassion throughout the community at Morris County Golf Club in Morris Township. The council, which recently added nine young men, is one of the oldest knight groups in the United States.
“It’s a great blessing to see the inspiration of women and men of faith who serve, lead, and help us as disciples of our Lord Jesus to put our faith into action,” Bishop Sweeney said at the Mass.
George Washington Council is the only one in the U.S. not named after a Catholic; instead, it was named after the Revolutionary War general and first U.S. president. Morristown is known as the military capital of the Revolution, where Washington and the Continental Army wintered during the war.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
The council began at a time of strong anti-Catholic sentiment. Yet the council has always supported patriotism and been engaged in community service.
The council typically raises at least ,000 each year for local charities, which Knights trustee John Wooters said is focused on people on the margins facing challenges ranging from food and housing to mental health issues. But he said time and talent are as much of a compassionate asset to the community as their financial contribution.
“It’s also manpower. We are probably doing something at least twice a week at some different organization, whether it’s moving medical supplies and medical beds so that they can be put on a container to go to Ukraine, or taking care of somebody who’s involved with [domestic] abuse. We have to move the family,” Wooters said.
The knights’ financial and volunteer support spans from ArcMorris, helping people with disabilities, to performing tasks for the Discalced Carmelites of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.
Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption, a fourth-degree knight, and the council’s chaplain, said the call to service stems from the faith of these men of diverse ages, backgrounds, and talents.
“It flows from who they are as Catholic men, Catholic gentlemen, as family men,” Msgr. John Hart said.
During the Oct. 10 dinner of appreciation, former grand knight and current trustee Bill Kostyak received the council’s Knight of the Year award. Carolyn Lake received the council’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her volunteer work with the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris Plains.
The event is the council’s main fundraiser, which has given yearly honors to people from various circles of service, from the medical and education worlds to law enforcement.
During the Mass, Bishop Sweeney praised the award winners in his homily, citing examples of saints celebrating October feast days such as St. Carlo Acutis and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
“The beauty of the lives of the saints, my sisters and brothers, is that they were normal people like us in so many ways, but they allowed themselves to fall in love with Jesus, to know Jesus in the sacraments, in prayer, and seeing him in our brothers and sisters who are in need,” Bishop Sweeney said. “To honor our honorees today, [we are] taking time to recognize the goodness, the generosity of those who respond to the Lord’s call.”
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/morristown-knights-honored-for-their-selfless-gift-of-service-catholic-the-sense-of-celebration-was-palpable-on-oct-10-at-assumption-church-in-morristown-n-j-members-of-the-knights-of-colum.jpg "Morristown Knights honored for their selfless gift of service #Catholic – The sense of celebration was palpable on Oct. 10 at Assumption Church in Morristown. N.J. members of the Knights of Columbus George Washington Council No. 359 filled the pews.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 300 knights, spouses and other family members to celebrate the council’s annual Mass to mark the beginning of its fraternal year. The liturgy was followed by a dinner of appreciation honoring service and compassion throughout the community at Morris County Golf Club in Morris Township. The council, which recently added nine young men, is one of the oldest knight groups in the United States.
“It’s a great blessing to see the inspiration of women and men of faith who serve, lead, and help us as disciples of our Lord Jesus to put our faith into action,” Bishop Sweeney said at the Mass.
George Washington Council is the only one in the U.S. not named after a Catholic; instead, it was named after the Revolutionary War general and first U.S. president. Morristown is known as the military capital of the Revolution, where Washington and the Continental Army wintered during the war.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
The council began at a time of strong anti-Catholic sentiment. Yet the council has always supported patriotism and been engaged in community service.
The council typically raises at least ,000 each year for local charities, which Knights trustee John Wooters said is focused on people on the margins facing challenges ranging from food and housing to mental health issues. But he said time and talent are as much of a compassionate asset to the community as their financial contribution.
“It’s also manpower. We are probably doing something at least twice a week at some different organization, whether it’s moving medical supplies and medical beds so that they can be put on a container to go to Ukraine, or taking care of somebody who’s involved with [domestic] abuse. We have to move the family,” Wooters said.
The knights’ financial and volunteer support spans from ArcMorris, helping people with disabilities, to performing tasks for the Discalced Carmelites of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.
Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption, a fourth-degree knight, and the council’s chaplain, said the call to service stems from the faith of these men of diverse ages, backgrounds, and talents.
“It flows from who they are as Catholic men, Catholic gentlemen, as family men,” Msgr. John Hart said.
During the Oct. 10 dinner of appreciation, former grand knight and current trustee Bill Kostyak received the council’s Knight of the Year award. Carolyn Lake received the council’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her volunteer work with the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris Plains.
The event is the council’s main fundraiser, which has given yearly honors to people from various circles of service, from the medical and education worlds to law enforcement.
During the Mass, Bishop Sweeney praised the award winners in his homily, citing examples of saints celebrating October feast days such as St. Carlo Acutis and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
“The beauty of the lives of the saints, my sisters and brothers, is that they were normal people like us in so many ways, but they allowed themselves to fall in love with Jesus, to know Jesus in the sacraments, in prayer, and seeing him in our brothers and sisters who are in need,” Bishop Sweeney said. “To honor our honorees today, [we are] taking time to recognize the goodness, the generosity of those who respond to the Lord’s call.”
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]")
Morristown Knights honored for their selfless gift of service #Catholic – 
The sense of celebration was palpable on Oct. 10 at Assumption Church in Morristown. N.J. members of the Knights of Columbus George Washington Council No. 359 filled the pews.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 300 knights, spouses and other family members to celebrate the council’s annual Mass to mark the beginning of its fraternal year. The liturgy was followed by a dinner of appreciation honoring service and compassion throughout the community at Morris County Golf Club in Morris Township. The council, which recently added nine young men, is one of the oldest knight groups in the United States.
“It’s a great blessing to see the inspiration of women and men of faith who serve, lead, and help us as disciples of our Lord Jesus to put our faith into action,” Bishop Sweeney said at the Mass.
George Washington Council is the only one in the U.S. not named after a Catholic; instead, it was named after the Revolutionary War general and first U.S. president. Morristown is known as the military capital of the Revolution, where Washington and the Continental Army wintered during the war.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
The council began at a time of strong anti-Catholic sentiment. Yet the council has always supported patriotism and been engaged in community service.
The council typically raises at least $50,000 each year for local charities, which Knights trustee John Wooters said is focused on people on the margins facing challenges ranging from food and housing to mental health issues. But he said time and talent are as much of a compassionate asset to the community as their financial contribution.
“It’s also manpower. We are probably doing something at least twice a week at some different organization, whether it’s moving medical supplies and medical beds so that they can be put on a container to go to Ukraine, or taking care of somebody who’s involved with [domestic] abuse. We have to move the family,” Wooters said.
The knights’ financial and volunteer support spans from ArcMorris, helping people with disabilities, to performing tasks for the Discalced Carmelites of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.
Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption, a fourth-degree knight, and the council’s chaplain, said the call to service stems from the faith of these men of diverse ages, backgrounds, and talents.
“It flows from who they are as Catholic men, Catholic gentlemen, as family men,” Msgr. John Hart said.
During the Oct. 10 dinner of appreciation, former grand knight and current trustee Bill Kostyak received the council’s Knight of the Year award. Carolyn Lake received the council’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her volunteer work with the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris Plains.
The event is the council’s main fundraiser, which has given yearly honors to people from various circles of service, from the medical and education worlds to law enforcement.
During the Mass, Bishop Sweeney praised the award winners in his homily, citing examples of saints celebrating October feast days such as St. Carlo Acutis and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
“The beauty of the lives of the saints, my sisters and brothers, is that they were normal people like us in so many ways, but they allowed themselves to fall in love with Jesus, to know Jesus in the sacraments, in prayer, and seeing him in our brothers and sisters who are in need,” Bishop Sweeney said. “To honor our honorees today, [we are] taking time to recognize the goodness, the generosity of those who respond to the Lord’s call.”
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]
– The sense of celebration was palpable on Oct. 10 at Assumption Church in Morristown. N.J. members of the Knights of Columbus George Washington Council No. 359 filled the pews. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 300 knights, spouses and other family members to celebrate the council’s annual Mass to mark the beginning of its fraternal year. The liturgy was followed by a dinner of appreciation honoring service and compassion throughout the community at Morris County Golf Club in Morris Township. The council, which recently added nine young men, is one of the oldest knight groups in the United States. “It’s a
On average each day, over the last 100 years in mission territories, the Church has seen more than 9,000 people becoming Catholic, two priestly ordinations, and five women taking vows as religious.
The 71-year-old pope had been admitted last Tuesday and underwent surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung.
The Catholic Church has 407,421 priests, 425 more than the previous year. Africa and Asia are driving this growth, while Europe recorded another decline.
A Catholic parish in western Singapore hosted the play “TO GAZE: St. Clare of Assisi” as part of celebrations for the Jubilee Year of St. Francis of Assisi.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/TAL-barolo-wine-region-italy-ITWINETRAIN1225-02371649bde74978817debcf1040fffd.jpg)
Citing Pope Leo XIV’s call to defend human dignity in the age of AI, the German Bishops’ Conference has joined an initiative to make artificial intelligence safe for children.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Katie Zacharia was reportedly fired from her role as White House Press Secretary despite lying about her qualifications and being awful at her job.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump faced heavy criticism on Friday for replacing White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia with Jessica Rabbit.
Read MoreLooking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. October 16: Tethys and its shadow transit Still visible for several hours after sunset is the Wild Duck Cluster (M11), a young grouping of stars also cataloged as NGC 6705. Located in Scutum the Shield, the cluster is still 40° high inContinue reading “The Sky Today on Saturday, October 17: Watch Wild Ducks”
The post The Sky Today on Saturday, October 17: Watch Wild Ducks appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
Read MoreLoving God, I thank you for the gift of life you gave and continue to give to me and to all of us.
Merciful God, I ask your pardon and forgiveness for my own failure and the failure of all people to respect and foster all forms of life in our universe.
Gracious God, I pray that with your grace, I and all people will reverence, protect, and promote all life and that we will be especially sensitive to the life of the unborn, the abused, neglected, disabled, and the elderly. I pray, too, …
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Beyond the famous European cities, these destinations have ample attractions of their own.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/rothenburg-ob-der-tauber-germany-EUROSMTOWN0821-372a1037693a4abb9b5885da0a4067c0.jpg)
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians
1:15-23
Brothers and sisters:
Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and of your love for all the holy ones,
I do not cease giving thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the Church,
which is his Body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
From the Gospel according to Luke
12:8-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you,
everyone who acknowledges me before others
the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.
But whoever denies me before others
will be denied before the angels of God.
“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven.
When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities,
do not worry about how or what your defense will be
or about what you are to say.
For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”
The Consoler, the Holy Spirit, will be with the Apostles; when Christ will no longer be on earth, the Spirit will be present during the long periods of affliction that will last for centuries (cf. Jn 16:17). The Spirit will therefore be with the Church and within the Church, especially in times of struggle and persecution, as Jesus Himself promises the Apostles in the words recorded in the Synoptic Gospels: “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Lk 12:11-13; cf. Mk 13:11): “for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Mt 10). These words refer to the tribulations endured by the Apostles and by the Christians of the communities they founded and led; but they also refer to all those who, wherever they may be on earth, throughout the ages, will have to suffer for Christ. And in truth, there are many who, throughout the ages, including in recent times, have experienced this help from the Holy Spirit. And they know, and can bear witness, to the joy of the spiritual victory which the Holy Spirit has granted them to achieve. The entire Church today knows this, and bears witness to it. (Saint John Paul II, General Audience, 13 March 1991)
Read More![Pequannock prayer deepens faith with evening of worship, prayer #Catholic – On Oct. 8, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 120 parishioners of Our Lady of Good Council (OLGC) in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J., for an evening of worship and prayer. The bishop celebrated a Mass in the church, followed by an outdoor rosary procession around the parking lot.
The event was organized by the parish’s Rosary Altar Society, which Father Darwin Lastra, pastor of OLGC, founded several years ago. Jennifer Nardone, president of the society, coordinated the event with a team of members.
The Rosary Altar Society invites someone to speak for its monthly meetings and for the annual Mass and rosary event in October. Bishop Sweeney also participated last year.
For the Mass, Bishop Sweeney was the main celebrant and homilist. Father Lastra concelebrated the liturgy, assisted by Deacon Marc Marin of OLGC. The bishop spoke about aspects of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s life and encouraged the congregants to pray the rosary. He made some remarks in Spanish for the parish’s growing Hispanic community.
After Mass, parish men carried a statue of Our Lady of Fatima from the church and around the parking lot to five stations, where participants stopped to pray each of the five mysteries of the rosary.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/pequannock-prayer-deepens-faith-with-evening-of-worship-prayer-catholic-on-oct-8-bishop-kevin-j-sweeney-joined-about-120-parishioners-of-our-lady-of-good-council-olgc-in-the-pompton-plains-ne.jpg "Pequannock prayer deepens faith with evening of worship, prayer #Catholic – On Oct. 8, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 120 parishioners of Our Lady of Good Council (OLGC) in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J., for an evening of worship and prayer. The bishop celebrated a Mass in the church, followed by an outdoor rosary procession around the parking lot.
The event was organized by the parish’s Rosary Altar Society, which Father Darwin Lastra, pastor of OLGC, founded several years ago. Jennifer Nardone, president of the society, coordinated the event with a team of members.
The Rosary Altar Society invites someone to speak for its monthly meetings and for the annual Mass and rosary event in October. Bishop Sweeney also participated last year.
For the Mass, Bishop Sweeney was the main celebrant and homilist. Father Lastra concelebrated the liturgy, assisted by Deacon Marc Marin of OLGC. The bishop spoke about aspects of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s life and encouraged the congregants to pray the rosary. He made some remarks in Spanish for the parish’s growing Hispanic community.
After Mass, parish men carried a statue of Our Lady of Fatima from the church and around the parking lot to five stations, where participants stopped to pray each of the five mysteries of the rosary.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.")
Pequannock prayer deepens faith with evening of worship, prayer #Catholic – 
On Oct. 8, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 120 parishioners of Our Lady of Good Council (OLGC) in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J., for an evening of worship and prayer. The bishop celebrated a Mass in the church, followed by an outdoor rosary procession around the parking lot.
The event was organized by the parish’s Rosary Altar Society, which Father Darwin Lastra, pastor of OLGC, founded several years ago. Jennifer Nardone, president of the society, coordinated the event with a team of members.
The Rosary Altar Society invites someone to speak for its monthly meetings and for the annual Mass and rosary event in October. Bishop Sweeney also participated last year.
For the Mass, Bishop Sweeney was the main celebrant and homilist. Father Lastra concelebrated the liturgy, assisted by Deacon Marc Marin of OLGC. The bishop spoke about aspects of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s life and encouraged the congregants to pray the rosary. He made some remarks in Spanish for the parish’s growing Hispanic community.
After Mass, parish men carried a statue of Our Lady of Fatima from the church and around the parking lot to five stations, where participants stopped to pray each of the five mysteries of the rosary.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
– On Oct. 8, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 120 parishioners of Our Lady of Good Council (OLGC) in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J., for an evening of worship and prayer. The bishop celebrated a Mass in the church, followed by an outdoor rosary procession around the parking lot. The event was organized by the parish’s Rosary Altar Society, which Father Darwin Lastra, pastor of OLGC, founded several years ago. Jennifer Nardone, president of the society, coordinated the event with a team of members. The Rosary Altar Society invites someone to speak for its monthly meetings and for
The new trailer already has over 1 million views on YouTube in the 24 hours since its release.
Rockaway Rosary Rally celebrates faith and Marian devotion #Catholic – 
About 100 faithful gathered at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Rockaway, N.J., on Oct. 10 for a prayerful Rosary Rally honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary during the Month of the Holy Rosary.
The gathering brought together parishioners from Sacred Heart of Jesus and neighboring parishes, including St. Cecilia, also in Rockaway; St. Peter the Apostle in Parsippany, N.J. St. Joseph in Lincoln Park, N.J., and Our Lady of Mercy in the Whippany neighborhood of Hanover Township, N.J.
Officers and members of the Diocesan Commission for Catholic Filipino Ministries (DCCFM)also participated, reflecting a beautiful spirit of unity, faith, and devotion to the Blessed Mother.
The rally was led by Deacon Elmer Maximo, president of DCCFM, with Maryann Lim-Atienza as this year’s rosary captain. The faithful prayerfully meditated on all four sets of mysteries of the rosary—the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious—offering prayers for the protection, dignity, and respect of every human life, from conception to natural death.
After the rally, participants gathered for a lunch reception and fellowship, sharing food, friendship, and the joy of belonging to one community of faith. The gathering provided a meaningful opportunity to strengthen bonds among parishioners, neighboring Catholic communities, and DCCFM members.
The faithful concluded the day, renewed in their devotion to Our Blessed Mother and strengthened in their commitment to live and share the Gospel of Life.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
– About 100 faithful gathered at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Rockaway, N.J., on Oct. 10 for a prayerful Rosary Rally honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary during the Month of the Holy Rosary. The gathering brought together parishioners from Sacred Heart of Jesus and neighboring parishes, including St. Cecilia, also in Rockaway; St. Peter the Apostle in Parsippany, N.J. St. Joseph in Lincoln Park, N.J., and Our Lady of Mercy in the Whippany neighborhood of Hanover Township, N.J. Officers and members of the Diocesan Commission for Catholic Filipino Ministries (DCCFM)also participated, reflecting a beautiful spirit of unity, faith, and devotion
The Department of Homeland Security insisted ICE officers are “heroes,” enforcing the law.
The exhaust plumes of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft are seen illuminated by sunlight against the predawn sky during the launch of NASA’s SpaceX CRS-35 mission, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, as seen from Cocoa Beach, Florida. The light makes the plumes look like a jellyfish in the sky.
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| Picture of the day |
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Coturnix coromandelica (Rain Quail) in Bhigwan, Maharashtra, India.
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The always great Victor Davis Hanson recently appeared on the Sean Hannity show and talked about the apparent shift in some of the midterm races that seems to be benefiting Republicans.
The post Victor Davis Hanson Talks About Shifting Midterms and GOP Momentum: ‘Something’s Definitely Going On’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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(Note: Thank you for supporting businesses like the one presenting a sponsored message below and working with them through the links below which benefits Gateway Pundit.
The post The Peptide Secret Big Pharma Has Been Sitting On – And Why You Finally Don’t Need a Needle to Get It appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Despite threats of violence and restrictions placed on some Christian communities, the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Nigeria is encouragging missionaries to be unafraid.
The certificate program seeks to provide formation for people who can spread knowledge about the Guadalupe event.
![Bishops urge prayer as they continue abortion referendum fights in 4 states – #Catholic – Catholic bishops across four states are asking for prayers as they continue to rally the faithful ahead of ballot initiative votes that would reshape abortion policies in their states. “Tell your readership how important it is to be praying for the dioceses that are facing this, what I would describe as a very diabolical initiative,” Las Vegas Archbishop George Leo Thomas told EWTN News.On Nov. 3, the public in three states will vote on referendums to establish a “right” to abortion: Nevada, Virginia, and Idaho. In Missouri, people will vote on a pro-life referendum that would repeal the state’s constitutional right to abortion. Bishops in each state have advocated against abortion for months. In many cases, this includes statements on the referendums, flyers, and prayer cards at parishes, and asking priests to teach congregations about the sanctity of life. In some cases, it extends to calls for fasting and efforts to register voters and get them to the polls.American bishops do not endorse political candidates. Yet, bishops have advocated for or against specific ballot initiatives when Church teachings, such as the sanctity of life, are implicated.Nevada bishops wage ‘uphill battle’The bishops in Nevada are waging what Thomas called “an uphill battle” to defeat a referendum to establish “a fundamental right to abortion” in the state constitution.In Nevada, amendments need a majority vote via referendum in two consecutive elections. In the last statewide election in 2024, the referendum won support from 64% of voters. Another majority this year would complete the process.Thomas said he and Diocese of Reno Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg have worked closely to align their messaging and strategy to defeat the amendment. This includes printed material offered to parishes, created by the Nevada Catholic Conference, and a planned full-page advertisement for newspapers in Las Vegas and Reno.Both bishops wrote pastoral letters labeling the referendum dangerous. Thomas instructed priests in his archdiocese to read it aloud at Mass for Respect Life Sunday on Oct. 4.“Unborn children have no voice and cannot defend themselves,” he wrote in the letter, available in both English and Spanish. “As Catholics, our faith requires us to protect the inherent dignity of every human life and to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.”Thomas said every priest is obligated to “very clearly and lucidly teach Catholic social and moral teaching in his community,” noting each life is created in the image of God “from conception until natural death.”Although the referendum allows the state to restrict abortion access after fetal viability, which is the point at which a child can survive outside the womb, the proposal’s definition says this is determined by the “treating health care practitioner," who is often the abortion doctor. It states abortion access extends through the ninth month of pregnancy if needed to “protect the life or health” of the mother, but the measure does not separately define “health.”Current Nevada law prohibits abortion 26 weeks after the woman’s last menstrual period. The archbishop said the referendum extends abortion rights through “potentially the ninth month of pregnancy,” though courts have not ruled on that interpretation.The referendum would extend abortion access to “all individuals,” which Thomas argued would eliminate parental notification laws for minors who seek abortion. The referendum permits abortion by “a qualified health care practitioner” and does not specify a “physician.”“It’s another very serious and damaging expansion of an already liberal law,” the archbishop said.Virginia bishops push voter registrationThe two dioceses in Virginia — Arlington and Richmond — are battling a similar referendum to enshrine “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” which includes “abortion care,” in their state constitution, which would be adopted with a majority vote.Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington and Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond penned a letter instructing Catholics of their “sacred duty to form our consciences prayerfully and correctly, and to vote NO” on the abortion referendum and a separate referendum that would enshrine same-sex marriage in the constitution, which was read aloud at parishes throughout the commonwealth.Burbidge called Catholics to pray and fast ahead of the vote, and his diocese is operating the Catholics Vote No campaign and encouraging the diocesan faithful to sign on to a pledge to vote no on both referendums.Amy McInerny, director of Respect Life at the Diocese of Arlington’s Office of Marriage, Family, and Respect Life, told EWTN News: “Some demons are only driven out by prayer and fasting,” citing Christ’s words in Matthew 17.The dioceses, working through the Virginia Catholic Conference, published prayer cards for “protection from the extreme abortion amendment” and “an end to the grave evil of abortion” for parishes. They provided parishes with flyers about the referendum and abortion laws in the state, along with a flyer containing voter registration information.“These two ballot questions are moral issues,” McInerny said.Some parishes are actively registering Catholics to vote and holding voter registration drives. McInerny said there’s a strong effort to “turn out the vote,” and the Arlington Diocese encourages parishes to “check in with their homebound and those who are in nursing homes” and college students “who might need help to get absentee ballots.”The referendum would allow some abortion restrictions in the third trimester, but not if abortion is necessary to protect “the life or physical or mental health.” It does not define this standard, leaving it to the discretion of the physician, who is often the abortion doctor. The legal right to abortion is extended to “every individual” and not just adults.McInerny said the language essentially allows abortion “even for healthy babies, up until birth,” though courts have not ruled on that interpretation, and “will include minor girls,” which jeopardizes parental consent laws. She said it would create “a safe space for groomers and predators and traffickers who want to prey on our girls.”Virginia law allows abortion access through the 26th week of pregnancy.Idaho’s ‘most important issue’ until NovemberDiocese of Boise Bishop Peter Christensen is actively engaging with parish priests to ensure pro-life messaging is heard regularly at Mass throughout his diocese, which covers the entire state, ahead of its vote on an abortion referendum.Unlike Virginia and Nevada, the referendum in Idaho would change state law rather than amend the constitution. It would supersede the current state law, which prohibits most abortion access, and create a right to “reproductive freedom,” which includes “abortion.”“This is the most important issue for all of us until November,” Christian Welp, director of diocesan projects, told EWTN News.Welp said the diocese provided a package to every priest offering guidelines on pro-life messaging in homilies and prayer intentions ahead of the vote. It includes prayer cards, which priests are asked to read at every daily and Sunday Mass. The bishop also wrote a letter, which was read aloud at Mass throughout the diocese.“By coming together as a family in prayer, raising awareness, and taking meaningful action, we can make a powerful difference in responding to this anti-life, anti-family initiative by advocating for the protection of the most vulnerable members of our society,” Christensen wrote.The referendum would allow lawmakers to restrict abortion at the point of fetal viability, which is determined by the physician, who is often the abortion doctor, but cannot restrict late-term abortion if there is a medical emergency. It would also extend abortion rights to “every person,” not just adults.Welp said the referendum “allows for abortion up to viability, but then redefines viability,” saying the language could allow abortions “well into the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy.” He said the extension of this right to every person would include minors and effectively “does away with parental consent.”“Even if youʼre pro-choice, this goes too far,” Welp said. “This is too extreme.”Missouri seeks to reverse trendMissouri is the only state in which voters will be presented with a pro-life referendum, which would repeal the state’s constitutional right to abortion that was adopted via referendum in 2024 with support from 51.6% of voters.“It has been a major focus of all four dioceses and of all four bishops,” Kathleen Lavery, communications director of the Missouri Catholic Conference — which represents the state’s dioceses — told EWTN News.Lavery said the dioceses are working toward “trying to pass [the] amendment.” The referendum itself would not ban abortions or set a week-based limit but rather allow lawmakers to pass laws to restrict it in most cases. It would only prevent laws that ban abortion in cases of incest or rape within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy or in medical emergencies at any point in pregnancy.The conference provided printed material, signs, and palm cards for parishes, and a webpage to “help people educate themselves about the amendment,” she said. Speakers from diocesan Respect Life offices are speaking at the end of Mass and visiting Catholic events, such as Knights of Columbus gatherings.All four bishops unified on the message early, putting out a joint statement that the dignity of the human person is “threatened by the pro-abortion amendment passed in 2024.” They called for Catholics “and all people of good will” to join in prayer and fasting for the referendum’s success.“We have put together information for our priests as well to help them educate the faithful,” Lavery said.She noted there are “get out the vote” efforts at the parish level and said: “This amendment’s really going to come down to which side can activate its base and get people to the polls.”“I’m very cautiously optimistic,” Lavery said. “I think we have a very good chance of winning this.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/bishops-urge-prayer-as-they-continue-abortion-referendum-fights-in-4-states-catholic-catholic-bishops-across-four-states-are-asking-for-prayers-as-they-continue-to-rally-the-faithful-ahead-of-bal.jpg "Bishops urge prayer as they continue abortion referendum fights in 4 states – #Catholic – Catholic bishops across four states are asking for prayers as they continue to rally the faithful ahead of ballot initiative votes that would reshape abortion policies in their states. “Tell your readership how important it is to be praying for the dioceses that are facing this, what I would describe as a very diabolical initiative,” Las Vegas Archbishop George Leo Thomas told EWTN News.On Nov. 3, the public in three states will vote on referendums to establish a “right” to abortion: Nevada, Virginia, and Idaho. In Missouri, people will vote on a pro-life referendum that would repeal the state’s constitutional right to abortion. Bishops in each state have advocated against abortion for months. In many cases, this includes statements on the referendums, flyers, and prayer cards at parishes, and asking priests to teach congregations about the sanctity of life. In some cases, it extends to calls for fasting and efforts to register voters and get them to the polls.American bishops do not endorse political candidates. Yet, bishops have advocated for or against specific ballot initiatives when Church teachings, such as the sanctity of life, are implicated.Nevada bishops wage ‘uphill battle’The bishops in Nevada are waging what Thomas called “an uphill battle” to defeat a referendum to establish “a fundamental right to abortion” in the state constitution.In Nevada, amendments need a majority vote via referendum in two consecutive elections. In the last statewide election in 2024, the referendum won support from 64% of voters. Another majority this year would complete the process.Thomas said he and Diocese of Reno Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg have worked closely to align their messaging and strategy to defeat the amendment. This includes printed material offered to parishes, created by the Nevada Catholic Conference, and a planned full-page advertisement for newspapers in Las Vegas and Reno.Both bishops wrote pastoral letters labeling the referendum dangerous. Thomas instructed priests in his archdiocese to read it aloud at Mass for Respect Life Sunday on Oct. 4.“Unborn children have no voice and cannot defend themselves,” he wrote in the letter, available in both English and Spanish. “As Catholics, our faith requires us to protect the inherent dignity of every human life and to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.”Thomas said every priest is obligated to “very clearly and lucidly teach Catholic social and moral teaching in his community,” noting each life is created in the image of God “from conception until natural death.”Although the referendum allows the state to restrict abortion access after fetal viability, which is the point at which a child can survive outside the womb, the proposal’s definition says this is determined by the “treating health care practitioner,\" who is often the abortion doctor. It states abortion access extends through the ninth month of pregnancy if needed to “protect the life or health” of the mother, but the measure does not separately define “health.”Current Nevada law prohibits abortion 26 weeks after the woman’s last menstrual period. The archbishop said the referendum extends abortion rights through “potentially the ninth month of pregnancy,” though courts have not ruled on that interpretation.The referendum would extend abortion access to “all individuals,” which Thomas argued would eliminate parental notification laws for minors who seek abortion. The referendum permits abortion by “a qualified health care practitioner” and does not specify a “physician.”“It’s another very serious and damaging expansion of an already liberal law,” the archbishop said.Virginia bishops push voter registrationThe two dioceses in Virginia — Arlington and Richmond — are battling a similar referendum to enshrine “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” which includes “abortion care,” in their state constitution, which would be adopted with a majority vote.Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington and Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond penned a letter instructing Catholics of their “sacred duty to form our consciences prayerfully and correctly, and to vote NO” on the abortion referendum and a separate referendum that would enshrine same-sex marriage in the constitution, which was read aloud at parishes throughout the commonwealth.Burbidge called Catholics to pray and fast ahead of the vote, and his diocese is operating the Catholics Vote No campaign and encouraging the diocesan faithful to sign on to a pledge to vote no on both referendums.Amy McInerny, director of Respect Life at the Diocese of Arlington’s Office of Marriage, Family, and Respect Life, told EWTN News: “Some demons are only driven out by prayer and fasting,” citing Christ’s words in Matthew 17.The dioceses, working through the Virginia Catholic Conference, published prayer cards for “protection from the extreme abortion amendment” and “an end to the grave evil of abortion” for parishes. They provided parishes with flyers about the referendum and abortion laws in the state, along with a flyer containing voter registration information.“These two ballot questions are moral issues,” McInerny said.Some parishes are actively registering Catholics to vote and holding voter registration drives. McInerny said there’s a strong effort to “turn out the vote,” and the Arlington Diocese encourages parishes to “check in with their homebound and those who are in nursing homes” and college students “who might need help to get absentee ballots.”The referendum would allow some abortion restrictions in the third trimester, but not if abortion is necessary to protect “the life or physical or mental health.” It does not define this standard, leaving it to the discretion of the physician, who is often the abortion doctor. The legal right to abortion is extended to “every individual” and not just adults.McInerny said the language essentially allows abortion “even for healthy babies, up until birth,” though courts have not ruled on that interpretation, and “will include minor girls,” which jeopardizes parental consent laws. She said it would create “a safe space for groomers and predators and traffickers who want to prey on our girls.”Virginia law allows abortion access through the 26th week of pregnancy.Idaho’s ‘most important issue’ until NovemberDiocese of Boise Bishop Peter Christensen is actively engaging with parish priests to ensure pro-life messaging is heard regularly at Mass throughout his diocese, which covers the entire state, ahead of its vote on an abortion referendum.Unlike Virginia and Nevada, the referendum in Idaho would change state law rather than amend the constitution. It would supersede the current state law, which prohibits most abortion access, and create a right to “reproductive freedom,” which includes “abortion.”“This is the most important issue for all of us until November,” Christian Welp, director of diocesan projects, told EWTN News.Welp said the diocese provided a package to every priest offering guidelines on pro-life messaging in homilies and prayer intentions ahead of the vote. It includes prayer cards, which priests are asked to read at every daily and Sunday Mass. The bishop also wrote a letter, which was read aloud at Mass throughout the diocese.“By coming together as a family in prayer, raising awareness, and taking meaningful action, we can make a powerful difference in responding to this anti-life, anti-family initiative by advocating for the protection of the most vulnerable members of our society,” Christensen wrote.The referendum would allow lawmakers to restrict abortion at the point of fetal viability, which is determined by the physician, who is often the abortion doctor, but cannot restrict late-term abortion if there is a medical emergency. It would also extend abortion rights to “every person,” not just adults.Welp said the referendum “allows for abortion up to viability, but then redefines viability,” saying the language could allow abortions “well into the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy.” He said the extension of this right to every person would include minors and effectively “does away with parental consent.”“Even if youʼre pro-choice, this goes too far,” Welp said. “This is too extreme.”Missouri seeks to reverse trendMissouri is the only state in which voters will be presented with a pro-life referendum, which would repeal the state’s constitutional right to abortion that was adopted via referendum in 2024 with support from 51.6% of voters.“It has been a major focus of all four dioceses and of all four bishops,” Kathleen Lavery, communications director of the Missouri Catholic Conference — which represents the state’s dioceses — told EWTN News.Lavery said the dioceses are working toward “trying to pass [the] amendment.” The referendum itself would not ban abortions or set a week-based limit but rather allow lawmakers to pass laws to restrict it in most cases. It would only prevent laws that ban abortion in cases of incest or rape within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy or in medical emergencies at any point in pregnancy.The conference provided printed material, signs, and palm cards for parishes, and a webpage to “help people educate themselves about the amendment,” she said. Speakers from diocesan Respect Life offices are speaking at the end of Mass and visiting Catholic events, such as Knights of Columbus gatherings.All four bishops unified on the message early, putting out a joint statement that the dignity of the human person is “threatened by the pro-abortion amendment passed in 2024.” They called for Catholics “and all people of good will” to join in prayer and fasting for the referendum’s success.“We have put together information for our priests as well to help them educate the faithful,” Lavery said.She noted there are “get out the vote” efforts at the parish level and said: “This amendment’s really going to come down to which side can activate its base and get people to the polls.”“I’m very cautiously optimistic,” Lavery said. “I think we have a very good chance of winning this.”")
Bishops and priests remain active in Nevada, Virginia, Idaho, and Missouri, as they prepare Catholics to vote on referendums that could reshape abortion policies in their states.
Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. October 15: Double crater Messier Late this evening for much of the U.S., Saturn’s small moon Tethys transits the ringed planet’s disk along with its shadow. It’s the best-timed such event all month for U.S. observers, beginning shortly after midnight EDT (so,Continue reading “The Sky Today on Friday, October 16: Tethys and its shadow transit”
The post The Sky Today on Friday, October 16: Tethys and its shadow transit appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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The USCCB president called on Catholics to exercise their “right and responsibility” to vote while advocacy organization CatholicVote issued state voter guides.
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians
1:11-14
Brothers and sisters:
In Christ we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.
In him you also, who have heard the word of truth,
the Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
which is the first installment of our inheritance
toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.
From the Gospel according to Luke
12:1-7
At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”
Jesus sends the disciples out on their mission and (…) he draws a parallel between what we hear “in private,” namely, what is in the secret of our hearts, and what we are called to proclaim to everyone. He reminds us that proclaiming the Gospel is first and foremost a sharing of a personal encounter with him, which is unique to each of us.
The strength of any apostolate, in fact — beyond techniques and tools — comes from the work of the Holy Spirit within us and from the authenticity of our response. Saint Thomas Aquinas spoke of preaching as passing on to others what we have contemplated: “contemplata aliis tradere” (cf. Summa Theologiae, III, q. 40, a. 1, ad 2). (…)
Now, just as then, it is a challenge to remain faithful to Jesus’ teachings and to proclaim his word: to respond to hatred with love, to arrogance with meekness, and to discouragement with perseverance. For this reason, we must deepen the roots of our faith and our mission in an intimate relationship with him (cf. Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 8). This gives us the strength not to despair, but to continue to share with everyone, in every circumstance, his message of hope, love and peace. The world greatly needs it! (Pope Leo XIV, Angelus, 21 June 2026)
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Chicago students send Pope Leo a White Sox care package after cancer surgery #Catholic – 
(Vatican News) — As Pope Leo XIV recovers from lung cancer surgery in the hospital, a group of students from his hometown of Chicago are sending him a care package with get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket.
Local media outlets reported Oct. 14 that students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy were planning to send the pope items including get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket.
The students are part of Team 14, a student group named after Pope Leo XIV at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy. The group gained attention last year after organizing a mock conclave that went viral on social media, and several students later traveled to Rome to meet Pope Leo in person.
The roughly 40-member group regularly gathers for prayer and service projects, including food drives for people in need.
“It feels nice to wish (the pope) well because he’s like a close friend and I was really sad when I heard when he was sick,” Ines Martins, one of the sixth-grade students who met the pope, said, according to ABC7 Chicago.
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“Dear Pope Leo. We hope you feel better. We are all praying for you and the doctors that are helping you,” student Sawyer Nolot said.
Another student, Catherine Esser, wrote in her card to the pope, “Get well soon and go White Sox.”
Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery at Gemelli Hospital on Oct. 13, during which doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung.
The Holy See Press Office said in a statement on Oct. 14 that the pope had undergone scheduled blood tests and chest X-ray, which confirmed that his postoperative recovery is progressing normally.
A version of this story was originally published by Vatican News and distributed through a partnership with OSV News.
– (Vatican News) — As Pope Leo XIV recovers from lung cancer surgery in the hospital, a group of students from his hometown of Chicago are sending him a care package with get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket. Local media outlets reported Oct. 14 that students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy were planning to send the pope items including get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket. The students are part of Team 14, a student group named after Pope Leo XIV at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy. The group gained attention last year after organizing
Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to break down the cause of a remarkable formation of radio waves they have nicknamed the “Treble Clef” because its distinct shape strongly resembles the musical symbol.
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Bishops conclude Vatican family meeting as Pope Leo XIV recovers in hospital #Catholic – 
VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — The Vatican meeting of the world’s bishops’ conference presidents and the heads of Eastern Catholic churches marking the 10th anniversary of “Amoris Laetitia” concluded on the evening of Oct. 14 with prayers for Pope Leo XIV’s recovery from lung cancer surgery.
Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, a consultant to the General Secretariat of the Synod who helped to organize the meeting, said Oct. 14 that “accompaniment” was one of the key words in the week’s discussions of marriage and family.
Reflecting on the significance of the experience at the event’s final press conference, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the archbishop of Malta, said that he is bringing with him from this meeting “a renewed commitment to put the family at the center of the Church’s pastoral mission.”
“‘Amoris Laetitia’ 10 years ago stimulated, provoked, an invitation for pastoral conversion, an attitude of listening to families, before judging, and also discerning situations with … open hearts, seeking the will of God, but also facilitating the meeting with God’s mercy,” Archbishop Scicluna said.
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In the closing session of the Vatican family summit, participants listened to a presentation of the meeting’s synthesis report. Due to the personal request of Pope Leo prior to his surgery, the meeting’s final synthesis report will not be made public until the pope has had time to personally review it. Father Costa said that the pope requested to postpone the meeting’s final report, noting that Pope Leo “wanted to listen to it and be able to offer his own word on it himself.”
“I will read the fruits of your work and discussions, and offer my reflections in due course,” Pope Leo wrote in a brief message to the participants signed on the day of his surgery.
“I encourage you to begin to share with your Episcopal Conferences and Dioceses what you have lived and received, and to continue proclaiming the Gospel with families, drawing on the richness of ‘Amoris Laetitia,’” the pope said.
The bishops, patriarchs, families and experts taking part in the meeting on marriage and family in Paul VI Hall met for more than 42 hours of discussions over the course of Oct. 7 to 14 on topics ranging from cohabitation of young couples to influencers on social media portraying “traditional” families, often referred to as “trad wife” culture.
The topic of annulments, as well as Communion for the divorced and remarried, also came up on Oct. 12, the day that participants devoted to discussing how best to accompany and support families in the difficulties of life, which was overshadowed by Pope Leo’s shocking announcement the day prior that he would be undergoing surgery.
Addressing participants that morning, U.S. theologian Julie Hanlon Rubio said, “In preparing for this intervention, I heard heartbreaking stories. One person told me of his elderly mother suffering from dementia who, when offered Eucharist at Mass, shouted, ‘No!,’ and covered her mouth, because one thing she remembered was that, because her husband of 50 years had been previously married, she was not worthy to receive the Body of Christ,” according to remarks posted on the meeting’s website.
“The Church can offer a challenging vision of marriage as intimate partnership oriented to love and justice that does not require perfection,” she added. “Whether they are single or married, with or without children; whether they are divorced, widowed, or remarried, we can meet them at the door with open arms, tell them that theirs is a challenging and necessary vocation, and assure them they are not alone.”
Earlier in the weeklong meeting, delegates reflected on the delicate first years of married life, a point Pope Francis emphasized in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia.”
In his address on Oct. 10, Cardinal José Cobo Cano of Madrid warned that the Church should “consider whether we prepared couples more for a wedding ceremony than for married life.”
“The issue is not merely a matter of reviewing contents. It is a question of whether our pastoral care is organized primarily around the planned wedding ceremony or around the human, faith-based and vocation journeys we are called to accompany,” he said.
He also emphasized the need for pastors to be present at significant moments in the first years of marriage “without necessarily turning this accompaniment into a continuous program of meetings.”
“The sacrament has been celebrated, but now the spouses must learn to build and put roots in their married life. They must build a ‘we’ without erasing the ‘I’ and the ‘you,’” Cardinal Cobo said.
Following the intense work during the first days of the meeting, Oct. 11 was scheduled as a recess. However, Pope Leo’s surgery announcement during his Sunday Angelus address shifted the pre-programmed schedule and shocked the participants.
Reconvening on Oct. 12, while under the weight of Pope Leo’s impending surgery, the bishops and patriarchs reflected on the challenges faced by families in difficult situations.
“Amoris Laetitia invited us to give priority to listening, to avoid judging too quickly, and to allow ourselves to be surprised by the action of God’s grace in people’s lives,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, said in the day’s opening address.
Filipino Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan described ministering to families affected by extreme hardships, noting that the “fragility of many families is not produced only by personal choices.”
“Family life can also be wounded by poverty, migration, violence, addiction, imprisonment, injustice and precarious work. These realities can severely limit people’s freedom and their capacity even to approximate the Christian ideal of family life,” Cardinal David said in a video presentation.
Reflecting on the declining numbers of baptisms and marriages, Hanlon highlighted Pope Francis’ call for a pastoral accompaniment that “is ever ready to understand, forgive, accompany, hope, and, above all, integrate.”
“In an era when influencers on social media show off their seemingly perfect ‘traditional’ families complete with homemade bread and chickens, Francis’ integration of weakness is crucial,” Hanlon said.
In the afternoon, before continuing with reports on group discussions, Cardinal Farrell and Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, released a statement confirming that, because of Pope Leo’s surgery, the synthesis report would not be made public; instead, they would present the report and relevant texts to him after his convalescence.
“We will then proceed according to his instructions,” the cardinals said.
On the meeting’s final day of plenary sessions and group work, Oct. 13, the assembly sent a message to Pope Leo ahead of his surgery in the afternoon, expressing their closeness, affection and prayers for his health.
“We are grateful to you for having wanted this Meeting and for encouraging us to listen to families and to the journeys of our Churches. As we continue our work, we feel your closeness and carry with us your concern for families throughout the world,” the message read.
The day’s discussions focused on Christian families and their significance in the Church’s mission. In his address, Tanzanian Cardinal Protase Rugambwa of Tabora highlighted the need for couples and families to take “on a more active role in the formation of seminarians, deacons, and other pastoral workers.”
“The involvement of families as active subjects of pastoral action is supported very much by the concrete experiences they have gained as faithful and committed Christians, which can be utilized not only in their struggle to support the growth of the Church’s mission but also in shaping the formation of those who are called to accompany them,” Cardinal Rugambwa said.
Pope Leo had been an active participant in the Vatican meeting up until he was admitted to the hospital. During the meeting’s closing Mass the morning following the pope’s surgery, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle read aloud a homily that had been prepared by the pope prior to the operation.
Cameroonian Archbishop Andrew Nkea of Bamenda, one of the bishops participating in the meeting, told OSV News that despite the pope’s absence on the meeting’s final days, those present in the assembly “were not discouraged, but we were very, very strongly united with him in prayer.”
“Every morning before we started the meeting, we prayed for his health and for his quick recovery,” he said. “It really didn’t affect the meeting in the sense that it didn’t kill our spirits, because we have hope in God and trust in his healing power. But at the same time, we missed him in the meeting.”
“We thank God that it was an early discovery,” Archbishop Nkea said. “So, we are hoping that he will recover very fast, and he will get back to his duties because the whole world is waiting for him to get well.”
Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney. Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist. Paulina Guzik, international editor for OSV News, contributed to this report.
– VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — The Vatican meeting of the world’s bishops’ conference presidents and the heads of Eastern Catholic churches marking the 10th anniversary of “Amoris Laetitia” concluded on the evening of Oct. 14 with prayers for Pope Leo XIV’s recovery from lung cancer surgery. Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, a consultant to the General Secretariat of the Synod who helped to organize the meeting, said Oct. 14 that “accompaniment” was one of the key words in the week’s discussions of marriage and family. Reflecting on the significance of the experience at the event’s final press conference, Archbishop Charles Scicluna,
Pope Leo XIV starts respiratory physical therapy a day after lung cancer surgery #Catholic – 
ROME (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV underwent more medical exams and started respiratory physical therapy on Oct. 14, the day after the lung cancer surgery that removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung.
In the first medical update provided by the Vatican since the late-night revelation of the pope’s lung cancer diagnosis, the pope’s doctors said Wednesday that the pope’s “recovery is proceeding as expected” and the pope has begun walking around his hospital room.
“This morning, the Holy Father underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled following the surgery. The results confirm a normal postoperative recovery: the values are within the normal range for the type of surgery performed,” the joint statement by Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the pope’s surgeon, and Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal doctor, said.
“The Holy Father underwent respiratory physical therapy and has begun walking around his room. He has resumed his regular diet, having had breakfast and lunch. His recovery is proceeding as expected.”
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Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists that Pope Leo was “in good spirits” the day after surgery. Bruni told journalists that before having surgery, Pope Leo had undergone a robotic bronchoscopy with biopsy, a chest CT scan with contrast, and a PET scan which indicated the need for the Oct. 13 surgery.
Pope Leo was admitted to Gemelli Hospital Oct. 13 for the lung surgery, following the pope’s Oct. 11 disclosure that recent medical examinations had revealed a “well-contained” lung nodule that had been “detected at a very early stage.”
According to Vatican News, post-operation tests will be conducted on the removed tissue in the coming days.
In response to a question of how long the wait might be to receive any results as to whether cancer remains beyond what was removed during the pope’s surgery, Bruni said, “You have to ask a doctor for the timing of those. It usually takes five, 10, 15 days depending on the situation.”
Speaking with OSV News, medical experts indicated that a potential analysis of the pope’s lymph nodes could be key to evaluating the next steps.
Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine and medical director for lung cancer screening at SSM Health — who is not involved in the pope’s care — said in an interview with OSV News that it would typically take a week to get all of the biopsy results back.
The pope’s doctors Oct. 14 statement is the first update from the Vatican on the pope’s medical condition since the pope’s surgery ended with the revelation from his doctors that the “examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected by the preoperative tests.”
Adenocarcinoma of the lung is the most common form of lung cancer in the United States. It represents about 40% of all lung cancers, according to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America.
The right lower lobe of the lung, which Pope Leo had removed, is the largest of the three lobes in the right lung. Located in the posterior and inferior part of the right chest cavity, it contributes roughly 30% of total lung capacity, making it the single largest lung lobe, according to the Baylor College of Medicine.
Pope Leo is expected to remain in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital as he recovers from surgery for at least one week. The Vatican has canceled all of the pope’s scheduled audiences through Oct. 20.
Bruni said that there were no changes to announce at this time to the pope’s expected length of stay in the hospital or to the pope’s scheduled trip to Latin America Nov. 6-17. He said that Pope Leo XIV had “manifested his intention” to travel to Peru and “that’s still there.”
The previously published schedule for the 12-day trip to South America indicated that he would travel more than 19,000 miles on 14 flights during a November trip to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, which includes stops high in the Andes mountains.
Peru’s President Keiko Fujimori said the country received the news of the pontiff’s diagnosis “with deep sadness” and asked God “to care for him, to give him strength, and allow us to see him soon recovered.”
“Holy Father, this land, which is also your home, embraces you with immense affection. Today it is our turn to accompany you with our prayers, just as you have so many times accompanied us with yours,” she wrote.
Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.
– ROME (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV underwent more medical exams and started respiratory physical therapy on Oct. 14, the day after the lung cancer surgery that removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung. In the first medical update provided by the Vatican since the late-night revelation of the pope’s lung cancer diagnosis, the pope’s doctors said Wednesday that the pope’s “recovery is proceeding as expected” and the pope has begun walking around his hospital room. “This morning, the Holy Father underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled following the surgery. The results confirm a normal postoperative
‘To see the face of God in wartime’: a Jesuit’s mission in Siberia #Catholic – 
WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) — Every day for more than four years, in a Catholic parish deep in the Russian region of Siberia, a small community has gathered before the Blessed Sacrament to pray the rosary for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
The prayer has continued since Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It includes another intention, one that Jesuit Father Wojciech Ziólek said has become essential to his ministry: that God would “save our hearts from hatred and revenge.”
When the war broke out, the world of Father Ziólek, the Polish pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Tomsk, seemed to collapse. “I cried so much at the beginning. It was terrible,” Father Ziólek told OSV News during a brief visit to Poland in October. “There was this enormous sense of helplessness. As a Jesuit community, we did not know what to do.”
Father Ziólek spoke with OSV News in Warsaw Sept. 17, ahead of the 100th World Mission Sunday observed Oct. 18, and on the same day Russia launched another large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine. The overnight barrage wounded more than 20 people in Kyiv and other cities and damaged homes and infrastructure across several regions, according to Ukrainian officials.
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The war is now well into its fifth year, as diplomatic efforts continue but so far have not brought a resolution for peace. On Oct. 11, right before announcing that would undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule, Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal for peace, saying, “The war in tormented Ukraine continues to cause suffering far beyond its borders, especially in the poorest countries, where so many people depend on grain imports.”
“I make a heartfelt appeal to the parties to the conflict to allow for the safe transport of grain through the Black Sea. The daily bread of millions of people cannot be held hostage by the war,” the pope said.
Just weeks earlier, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican secretary for relations with states and international organizations, had completed a visit to Moscow, where he met Russian government officials, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia’s small Catholic community. During Mass with Catholic clergy and religious, he urged the Church in Russia to become “true artisans of peace in our daily lives.”
A microscopic minority
For Father Ziólek, that daily life takes place far from Moscow. His parish covers Tomsk Oblast, a Siberian region of more than 122,000 square miles — slightly larger than his homeland, Poland.
“The first thing that makes an impression on someone who has never been there is the distances,” Father Ziólek told OSV News. Across that enormous territory, he added, there are just two Catholic churches: the parish church in Tomsk and a tiny wooden church in the village of Bialystok.
“We are not simply a minority. We are a microscopic minority,” Father Ziólek said. “For someone coming from a Catholic country, or even from a place where there are several churches in one city, it is difficult to understand that across an area the size of Poland there are two churches.”
By Siberian standards, however, Tomsk has a large Catholic parish. Three Sunday Masses draw a combined 200 to 250 people, Father Ziólek said. In some Siberian Catholic communities, he added, Sunday Mass may bring together only 20 or 30. Catholics make up only about 0.5% of Russia’s population, with the Latin-rite Catholic community numbering roughly 800,000 people nationwide, according to recent Church data.
The congregation itself is a portrait of Siberia’s complicated religious history. There are descendants of Poles, Germans and Lithuanians, but also ethnic Russians, including people baptized in the Orthodox Church as infants, who never practiced the faith and later began searching for God as adults.
‘How did you come to God’
That search, Father Ziólek said, is something Russians speak about in a way that still moves him. “There is a beautiful question people ask here, a question I had never heard in Poland: ‘How did you come to God?’” Father Ziólek said. “And then the story begins.”
For older Catholics, those stories often reach back into families in which faith survived decades of Soviet atheism through a grandmother or great-grandmother who prayed while younger generations were taught that religion was meaningless.
Now something new is happening.
“The first generation of Catholics who have been going to church since childhood is entering adulthood,” Father Ziólek said. “These are people who have had contact with faith from birth, who were baptized as children.” Not everyone stays. Some young people rebel and leave, just as they do elsewhere, Father Ziólek said. Some later return. Others arrive by unexpected routes.
Father Ziólek recalled two young women in their 20s who were walking home after a Saturday night party. It was early Sunday morning, it was cold, and public transportation had not yet started running. They saw the Catholic church open and went inside to get warm. “They were dressed as you might dress for a nightclub,” Father Ziólek said. “They were afraid that some grandmother would spot them and tell them what an offense against God it was to come into church dressed like that.”
Nobody did. Mass began while they sat inside. The young women had never attended Catholic Mass before. “And then came the sign of peace,” Father Ziólek said. “Those grandmothers not only did not scold them, but reached out their hands to them. They were shocked.”
Today, he said, both women are among the parish’s most active members. Stories like that help explain why the community matters in a place where Catholics are few and separated by immense distances. Father Ziólek said laypeople play an unusually large role in parish life, including administration, fundraising and other ministries.
“They stay, because here they experienced God,” Father Ziólek said. “And they stay because this is a place of encounter.”
The fruits of war
The war brought a different kind of test. From its first day, Father Ziólek and his fellow Jesuits decided to hold a daily half-hour of Eucharistic adoration and pray the rosary for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
“What we have tried to do from the beginning is, first, to pray for peace and, second, to protect people from hatred and fear,” Father Ziólek said.
“Because the two main fruits of war, the ones that appear immediately, are hatred and fear.”
He is careful to distinguish that experience from religious persecution. “No one persecutes us here as Catholics,” Father Ziólek told OSV News, adding that the parish has warm relations with many Orthodox Christians. Tomsk, he said, has its own tradition of religious and cultural coexistence, shaped partly by generations of people sent there from different corners of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union.
The Catholic Church itself carries that history. After the suppression of Poland’s November Uprising against Russian rule, many Polish insurgents were exiled to Tomsk and the surrounding region. Their growing presence helped create the need for a permanent Catholic church building, which was consecrated in 1833.
Nearly two centuries later, a Polish Jesuit is serving Catholics there.
Father Ziólek said he welcomed Archbishop Gallagher’s recent effort to meet Russia’s local Catholic community as part of the Vatican’s contacts in Moscow. But diplomacy, in his experience, is only one part of building peace. “I have much more hope in human gestures that bring Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Protestants closer to one another,” Father Ziólek said, pointing to Tomsk as a place where such relationships are part of ordinary Christian life.
For him and the other Jesuits, remaining present to that community has become particularly important since the war began. “Our duty – our honorable duty – is to be with people,” Father Ziólek said, “to help them and accompany them, as much as we are able, on their way to God.”
“People often ask me what I miss in Russia,” Father Ziólek told OSV News. “I always answer: freedom and parsley.” The parsley, he quickly explained, is quite literal. “They have parsley leaves in the vegetable shops, but no parsley root. And you need it to make Polish soup.”
But when OSV News asked what Russian Catholics themselves are missing, Father Ziólek’s answer was no longer a joke. “Love,” he said. “The experience of someone accepting them as they are. Someone who understands their tangled and very painful situation.”
“I think the essence of Christianity is to see the human being in another human being,” he said. “And the essence of working in Russia, in Siberia, is to see the human being in Russian.”
“More than that, it is about seeing the face of God in another person,” Father Ziólek added. “And the essence of working in Russia during the war is to see the face of God in Russians and help them see that face in Ukrainians.”
Katarzyna Szalajko writes for OSV News from Warsaw.
– WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) — Every day for more than four years, in a Catholic parish deep in the Russian region of Siberia, a small community has gathered before the Blessed Sacrament to pray the rosary for peace between Russia and Ukraine. The prayer has continued since Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It includes another intention, one that Jesuit Father Wojciech Ziólek said has become essential to his ministry: that God would “save our hearts from hatred and revenge.” When the war broke out, the world of Father Ziólek, the Polish pastor of