The Archdiocese of Washington had its largest ordination class since 1960, when 17 men were ordained the year that John F. Kennedy was elected as the nation’s first Catholic president.

Lorenzo Michele Noè Caruso wrote to Pope Francis after seeing reports that the pope had used a homophobic slur when telling members of the Italian bishops’ conference to exercise caution in admitting gay men to seminaries.

As a gay priest, I was shocked and saddened by the Holy Father’s use of an offensive slur during a discussion with Italian bishops.

A day after news broke that Pope Francis had allegedly used a derogatory word in a private conversation with Italian bishops about gay men applying to Italian seminaries, the Vatican has issued an official response.

Around 200 parish priests met outside Rome last week for an official synod meeting after some members of the 2023 synod assembly said not enough parish priests had been included.

Pope Francis wrote a letter of encouragement to parish priests, who were largely missing from the first synod session.