Pope Francis today called for “the immediate release” of the more than 100 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza and, at the same time, expressed his deep concern at the “total siege” imposed by Israel on Gaza.

“The synod is not a council. It does not take decisions as a council does. Its task is to discern, not decide,” one synod member explained to me.

As a superior general and then as a bishop, the cardinal said he had attended six previous synods, and this is “the most diverse synod I’ve ever participated in.”

“We behave completely unjustly, unjustly toward the pope because the opposition to him is always based on one or two phrases taken out of context,” Cardinal Ryś said in an exclusive interview America.

In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen Dulle and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss the first week of the Synod on Synodality, and the strong emphasis from Pope Francis and the synod team to maintain discussions between participants confidential, both during and after the synod.

A Reflection for Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time, by Ryan Di Corpo

The synod secretariat has gone to extraordinary lengths to encourage each member into a disposition of openness so that maybe, just maybe, the Holy Spirit can act.

Israel’s Embassy to the Holy See underlined the need for the church to condemn “the hideous crime,” name the perpetrators and acknowledge “Israel’s basic right to defend itself against the atrocity.”

When Catholic same-sex couples seek a blessing from a priest, it often flows from a deep faith in God.

The Catholic Church is called to be an instrument of communion, Anna Rowlands told synod participants. But it requires grace and “learning to ‘bear with’ reality, gently, generously, lovingly and courageously.“