Catholic News Service

In an act of solidarity with the 350 parishioners of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Pearl River, a visibly upset New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond celebrated Mass Oct. 10 for a second consecutive week for the parish and reconsecrated its church and its new altar. The parish had learned a week before that its 13th pastor appointed in July 2019, Father Travis Clark, was arrested Sept. 30 for alleged obscenity with two women in their church.

The predominant global economic system is "unsustainable," particularly in its impact on the environment, Pope Francis said.

The Diocese of Brooklyn filed a lawsuit in federal court Oct. 8 against the state of New York, charging that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's new orders reducing church capacity violates the First Amendment's guarantee of the free exercise of religion.

Two priests connected to a minor seminary located at the Vatican will appear before a Vatican criminal court Oct. 14 on charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of students at the seminary.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Program, the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.

The U.S. Supreme Court is temporarily allowing drugs used to medically induce abortions to be mailed or delivered without requiring the recipient to make a doctor's visit during the coronavirus pandemic.

Catholic leaders in Nicaragua have expressed alarm at several proposed laws that could prohibit groups and individuals from receiving foreign funding and further curtail freedom of expression in the Central American country.

The latest financial transparency measures enacted at the Vatican are meant to restore order, ensuring money serves its purpose and does not become an object of idolatry, Pope Francis told European finance experts.

After a federal appeals court rejected its motion for an emergency injunction against California Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 restrictions on indoor worship, a Pasadena-based apostolic Christian church filed a brief Oct. 5 for that court to consider the "full merits" of a preliminary injunction.

The German Catholic bishops' conference and the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany plan to continue their discussions about shared Communion, reported the German Catholic news agency, KNA.

An eventual vaccine for COVID-19 would belong to the world and should not be hoarded greedily by countries hosting the lab or labs that develop it, Pope Francis said.

Prayer isn't about closing oneself in a room with God "to put makeup on your soul — that's not prayer, that's fake praying; to pray is to face God and allow yourself to be sent by him to help a brother or sister," Pope Francis said.

The president of Catholic Charities USA said the agency would turn to Capitol Hill to get a pandemic relief bill passed after it called President Donald Trump's decision to suspend talks on the legislation "heartless."

Although the Supreme Court began its new term Oct. 5, it is hardly business as usual since the court only has eight members on the bench and it is continuing to hear oral arguments by teleconference due to heath concerns.

Rule alterations by the Securities and Exchange Commission on shareholder resolutions will result in higher hurdles for shareholder activists, according to leaders for two faith-based investor groups.

On what might seem to some to be disparate issues, "Pope Francis really provides us an alternative way of looking at our life, and something new can emerge at this moment," said a member of a panel discussing the new Vatican encyclical Fratelli Tutti Oct. 5, one day after it was issued.

The U.S. Catholic bishops will vote for the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee for Religious Liberty and a chairman-elect for each of seven other standing committees before the USCCB convenes its annual fall general assembly, which is being held virtually Nov. 16–17.

Those in positions of authority, especially in the Catholic Church, would do well to remember that their responsibility is to serve those in their care and not exploit them for their own selfish interests, Pope Francis said.

This election year, in the midst of a global pandemic and with the Affordable Care Act about to be challenged for the third time before a Supreme Court that is in flux, it's no surprise health care is a bigger issue than it has been in previous presidential elections.

In a tweet just before 1 a.m. Oct. 2, the president announced he and the first lady had tested positive for COVID-19.