News Briefs

Subtly acknowledging Georgia’s ongoing territorial dispute with Russia, Pope Francis urged greater efforts to sow peace throughout the Caucasus region shortly after arriving in Tbilisi on Sept. 30. • On Sept. 27 Catholics joined a group of other faith leaders as part of the “We Stand Together” network, asking politicians to address immigration reform within 100 days of the beginning of the 2017 legislative session of Congress. • In a statement released by the Diocese of San Diego on Sept. 29, Bishop Robert W. McElroy asked people to pray for calm and called on police to be “as transparent as possible” in their investigation following the shooting of Alfred Olango in a San Diego suburb on Sept. 27. • President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines compared his bloody anti-crime war on Sept. 30 to the Holocaust, noting some had equated him with Hitler and adding that he would be “happy to slaughter” three million addicts. • In a statement released on Sept. 29, Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec said he has no intention of “refusing access to the anointing of the sick and the celebration of funerals” for those who asked to be euthanized.