Pope Francis has named Richard Garth Henning, 59, current bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, as the seventh Archbishop of Boston, the Vatican announced on Aug. 5.

The pope’s appeal came after the assassinations of Hamas political leader and peace negotiator Ismael Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut earlier in the week.

In a brief statement, the Vatican said, “it cannot but join its voice with the others that have been raised in these last days to deplore the offense made to numerous Christians and believers of other religions.”

Colleen Dulle reports on Archbishop Vigano’s trajectory from Vatican civil servant to excommunicant.

Pope Francis has designated the provincial city of Santiago del Estero as Argentina's primatial see in a move described by Catholic leaders as a historic "reparation" and a reflection of his preference for putting the peripheries at the center of church attention.

Reports are already surfacing of drones launched into Russia that are relying on artificial, not human, intelligence in decisions to evade defensive countermeasures, pick targets and finally conclude a strike.