Vatican sources said that during the meeting they “touched on all the hot button issues, including the situation in the Middle East, the Holy Land and China.”

“I have worked hurricanes, but nothing like this: It is just a look of sadness you see on everyone’s face. It is heartbreaking.”

“The Holy See fears the collapse of the country,” Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, stated frankly.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz and other immigration advocates were there to welcome Vice President Kamala Harris.

The discovery that follows last month's report of 215 bodies found at another school.

Bishop Bätzing said he “informed the pope in detail” about the status of the German church’s “Synodal Path” and “made it clear that the rumors that the church in Germany wants to go its own way are not true.”