In 2019, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requested $2 million to investigate historic abuse by priests of the state’s seven dioceses.

“I am profoundly shocked and grieved to learn of these charges against one of our priests,” Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo said in August, following the arrest of Father Michael Zacharias, 53.

Pope Francis has announced a consistory for the creation of 13 new cardinals, including the new Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops (Bishop Mario Grech) and the new Prefect for the Congregation of the Causes of Saints (Bishop Marcello Semeraro). Four of the 13 are over 80 and thus ineligible to take part in a papal election; among the four are Capuchin Franciscan Father Raniero Cantalamessa, since 1980 the preacher of the papal household.

“Adoring God is precisely the heart of prayer, Pope Francis said during his October 25 Sunday Angelus address (video) as he reflected on Matthew 22:34-40, the Gospel of the day. “And love for neighbor, which is also called fraternal charity, consists in closeness, listening, sharing, caring for others. And so often we neglect to listen to others because it is boring or because it takes up our time.”

Signatories of the Geneva Consensus Declaration, released on October 22, include Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Poland, and the US.

“Ending the SARS [Special Anti-Robbery Squad] will not solve the enormous problems of Nigeria, because it is futile treating symptoms of a disease when the root cause is known,” the bishops said in a statements issued during protests against police brutality. “The audacity and impunity with which the SARS officials have been operating all the while is a manifestation of the failing state of Nigeria.”

Sister Roberta Tremarelli is Secretary General of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies.

“The court argued that terminating pregnancy due to defects of the fetus amounted to eugenics — a 19th century notion of genetic selection that was later applied by the Nazis in their pseudo-scientific experiments,” the Associated Press reported.

Pope Francis and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez discussed relations between the Holy See and Spain, Church-state relations within Spain, and “issues of an international nature, such as the current health crisis, the process of European integration and migration.” During the meeting, the Pope delivered an eight-minute extemporaneous address in which he praised a book comparing Europe today to pre-Nazi Germany.

The Focolare Movement was founded during World War II by the Servant of God Chiara Lubich (1920-2008).