Ethel Kennedy, Joe Kennedy said, “was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant, and we are comforted in knowing she is reunited with the love of her life, our father, Robert F. Kennedy.”

As the Holy Land marked a grim first anniversary Oct. 7 of the Hamas attack on southern Israel, the papal almoner raised $35,000 in one afternoon from synod delegates and immediately sent it to Holy Family Parish in Gaza City.

Pope Francis will welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy back to the Vatican Oct. 11.

Francis has revolutionized the College of Cardinals by passing over large archdioceses like Los Angeles, Venice and Milan in favor of picking men from the peripheries who reflect his pastoral orientation and concern for the poor. 

The violence has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent victims, but it also “struck a profound blow to the common feeling of belonging to the Holy Land, to the consciousness of being part of a plan of Providence.”

In a letter on the anniversary of the October 7 attacks in the Middle East, Pope Francis calls for an end to conflict and a dialogue of peace.