Feast date: Nov 05

Sts. Elizabeth and Zachariah were the parents of John the Baptist.

She was a relative of Mary the Mother of God; no one knows the exact biological relationship between them, but tradition often says that they were cousins.

The Gospel of Luke states that though Elizabeth had committed no evil in the eyes of God, she was barren for most of her life. She was advanced in age when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her husband Zachariah in the temple to promise them a son.

St. Elizabeth is most famous for the words of the “Hail Mary,” which she uttered at feeling her child leap in her womb as Mary, then pregnant with Jesus, came to visit cousin. However, there is no further mention of her in the bible after the birth and circumcision of her son John the Baptist.

Zachariah was in the Temple when the angel Gabriel appeared announcing that Elizabeth would bear a son who would "bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God." When Zachariah expressed doubt at this because of her age, he was struck mute, and upon exiting the Temple it was clear to the people there that he had seen a vision. He remained mute until John's birth, when he wrote out the newborn's name.

Gerald Korson, the editor of Our Sunday Visitor from 1998 to 2007, has been charged with the possession of child pornography, as well as inducing a minor to engage in explicit conduct for the creation of child pornography.

Korson also worked as editor of the magazine of Legatus, the association of Catholic business leaders.

A New Hampshire judge dismissed an abuse suit against Bishop Peter Libasci of Manchester following the death of the bishop’s accuser.

The accuser had alleged that the bishop had sexually assaulted him in 1983 and 1984, when the future bishop was serving in a New York parish. Bishop Libasci denied the allegations.

In his second statement in recent days on outer space, a leading Vatican diplomat called for adherence to the Outer Space Treaty (1967), which bans nuclear weapons in space.

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said that “states must promote responsible behavior in outer space and fully respect the principles and obligations enshrined in the Treaty, particularly its Article IV, which prohibits the placement of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit, on celestial bodies, or anywhere else in outer space.”

Earlier this year, NATO’s secretary-general expressed concern that Russia may deploy nuclear weapons in space.

The United States Conference of Conference Bishops issued a press release yesterday encouraging contributions to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), its controversial anti-poverty program.

In 2023, the program had an operating deficit of $11,412,329, leading to net assets of negative $2.3 million at year’s end. Ralph McCloud, who was named director of CCHD in 2008, resigned from his position in 2024.

The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has appointed Archbishop Antoine Hérouard of Dijon, France, as apostolic visitor of the Emmanuel Community.

“Several bishops and members of the Community have sent detailed reports to the dicastery, expressing their concerns about internal governance, the centralization of power and the difficulty of integration into diocesan life,” Tribune Chrétienne reported.

Archbishop Hérouard had previously led the apostolic visitation of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon. Following the visitation, Bishop Dominique Rey resigned at Pope Francis’s request.

President Donald Trump issued a message for All Saints’ Day.

“The Blessed Virgin Mary, Patroness of the United States, has long been honored as a symbol of grace for our country,” he wrote. “Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini poured out her life in service to the most poor and needy among us; Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton formed generations through her schools of faith and learning; and Saint John Neumann led his flock with humility, courage, and unrelenting devotion.”

At the conclusion of his message, President Trump wrote that “on All Souls’ Day, Christians will remember all those who have entered the eternal sleep of peace. Today, the faithful honor the saints who light the path toward Christ and call our Nation to holiness.”

The secretary-general of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference denounced “the systematic violation of fundamental human rights” in his nation “through the kidnapping and killing of politicians and those who opposed the government.”

The bishops there have “called for national prayers and condemned the disappearances, kidnappings, and the abduction of politicians and other opposition party representatives,” said Father Charles Kitima. “The episcopal conference even wrote open letters condemning these acts and telling the government that it must sit at the negotiating table and engage in dialogue with the opposition political parties.”

Pope Leo XIV recently lamented election violence in Tanzania. The East African nation of 67.5 million (map) is 56% Christian (22% Catholic), 33% Muslim, and 10% ethnic religionist.

In an interview with Vatican News that followed an audience with Pope Leo, the president of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina addressed a question about “conservative, liberal, or progressive sectors” within the Church.

“They are categories borrowed from political sociology, which fail to express the depth of evangelizing commitment,” said Archbishop Marcelo Colombo of Mendoza. “In the Church, what is essential is fidelity to the Gospel, communion with the Pope and the bishops, and the defense of life from conception to natural death.”

“The Church exists to evangelize; this must be the root of all structure and service,” he added. “Synodality is not a fad, but an ecclesial lifestyle that involves walking together and discerning communally.”

The president of the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo linked synodality to the bishops’ efforts for peace in the strife-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Archbishop Fulgence Muteba of Lubumbashi told Vatican media that he sees “listening, consulting, collaborating, and acting together in shared responsibility” as the key elements of synodality. The prelate said that the nation’s bishops used these synodal elements in developing a proposed roadmap for peace.

Archbishop Muteba also “warned against potential pitfalls if synodality is not accompanied by solid ecclesial formation,” according to Vatican News.