Catholic News Service

The Vatican is asking all baptized people, regardless of whether they will be in Rome, to participate in October's assembly of the Synod of Bishops with their prayers.

Communicating Pope Francis' efforts to promote dialogue and advance peace efforts in Ukraine is a "great problem" for Catholic clergy and faithful in the country, said the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

When Pope Francis said he wanted the focus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to be "something very different" from the dicastery's reputation as a stringent watchdog, he was not saying anything goes, Cardinal-designate Víctor Fernández, the dicastery's new prefect, said in an interview.

Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who said Pope Francis tapped him not to mediate but to encourage dialogue that could end Russia's war on Ukraine, flew to China Sept. 12, Italian media reported.

After a severe storm set off flooding that breached dams in eastern Libya, leading to the deaths of thousands of people, Pope Francis sent his condolences and prayers.

Workers are human beings, not machines or "spare parts" to be used to drive production and profit at all costs, Pope Francis told members of an organization that advocates for and protects the rights of those seriously injured or disabled on the job.

Pope Francis prayed that Catholics and members of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church would recognize the wounds of division they have inflicted on Christ's body, the church, and come to celebrate the faith together.

Rather than engage in petty gossip, which leads to scandal, Christians are called by Jesus to be direct yet loving in offering help to an errant friend, Pope Francis said.

After an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that a financial relationship exists between the Vatican and Moscow, the Vatican bank said Sept. 9 that it "does not receive nor invest money from Russia."

Pope Francis called for solidarity and concrete assistance for all those affected by a devastating earthquake in Morocco.

Marking International Literacy Day, Pope Francis sent a message to Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, encouraging efforts to teach reading and writing to the hundreds of millions of people in the world who do not have basic literacy skills, but he also focused on the education needed to help all people contribute to building sustainable and peaceful societies.

Any limitations and rules regarding media access and communications during the upcoming Synod of Bishops are rooted in the "essence" of a synod and meant to help participants in their process of discernment, said the head of the synod's communication committee.

Auxiliary Bishop Maksym Ryabukha of Donetsk was one of 45 bishops who traveled to Rome for the Ukrainian church's annual synod and to meet with Pope Francis and other Vatican officials. "People's esteem for the pope is very fragile"  the bishop said.

The polarization Pope Francis sees in the Catholic Church in the United States is not only a U.S. problem, Cardinal-designate Christophe Pierre, Vatican nuncio in the United States, told Vatican News.

Pope Francis said he knows people wonder why he traveled close to 6,000 miles to Mongolia to visit a Catholic community of only 1,450 people.

Like St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American woman to be canonized, all Christians must embrace their unique call to service of God and neighbor as well as the personal crosses that come with it, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis prayed that God would raise up a new generation of "well-educated and faithful Catholics leaders committed to promoting the church's social and ethical teachings" through public service, especially in politics.

Retired Brazilian Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, a former archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia and former secretary of the then-Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, died Aug. 26 at age 89.

Acknowledging Ukraine's celebration of Independence Day Aug. 24, Pope Francis pleaded with thousands of visitors at his weekly general audience to keep praying for peace in the country.

The synod process underway around the world and at the Vatican is inflicting "evident and grave harm" on the Catholic Church, retired U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke wrote in a letter published as the foreword to a book.