The U.N. 68th General Assembly ended on Sept. 30 in New York with some notable successes.

A Dutch Jesuit in the besieged Syrian city of Homs said those who remain are facing shortages of food and fuel. “Disease has captured some of us and is knocking on the door of others,” Frans van der Lugt, S.J., wrote in a letter released by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need

The global number of child laborers has fallen by a third since 2000.

In 2011 only 163,775 marriages were celebrated in U.S. Catholic churches.

Dozens of events around the country took place Oct. 5 as part of the March for Immigrant Dignity and Respect. Labor unions, churches and other social justice organizations have scheduled events to rally supporters of comprehensive immigration reform as a lead-in to a day-long rally and concert in Wa

The pope gave the cardinals a mandate to advise him in the “government of the universal church.”