NEWS

Catholic health care professionals not only work to heal mental and physical health, they’re also devoted to the spiritual welfare of their patients. It’s a message Catholic healthcare workers unite around annually at the White Mass, celebrated in October, near the feast of St. Luke, patron saint of physicians and named for the color typically worn by healthcare professionals.

Charitably defending a stance on a hot-button issue is not always easy. That’s even more true when it comes to homosexuality. Some 120 Catholic priests, deacons, religious and lay leaders left a “Day of Understanding” seminar at the Diocesan Pastoral Center Oct. 21 with practical tips for sharing the truth about love, marriage and homosexuality.

The healing balm of the sacraments can help military chaplains tend to the wounds of armed forces who endure physical and emotional scars from conflicts raging around the world, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Australian Cardinal George Pell said the final report of the Synod of Bishops on the family did not create an opening for the divorced and civilly remarried to receive Communion. “The text has certainly been significantly misunderstood,” Cardinal Pell, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, told Catholic News Service Oct. 25.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While they did not grab headlines, the elderly and people with disabilities, openness to life and the plight of migrants and refugees were also on the agenda of the Synod of Bishops on the family. The synod’s final report, which was approved Oct. 24, addressed the pastoral needs of those who are often cast aside to the margins of society, those who are often neglected and abandoned in a world that places profit over value.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As disciples, Christians are called to imitate Jesus’ heart and lead others directly to him, without lecturing them, Pope Francis said. Thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 25 for the closing Mass of the Synod of Bishops. The Mass concluded three weeks of intense discussion and debate on pastoral responses to the challenges facing families in the modern world.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Several hours before the final report of the Synod of Bishops was put to a vote, two U.S. bishops said that what is new is not the Church’s message, but the synod’s emphasis and attitude toward the role of the family in the modern world.

It is time to "turn a new page" and end the indifference, neglect and hostility toward cultures and people who are different, he said Oct. 26 in an audience with more than 7,000 people taking part in an international pilgrimage.

The storm struck Mexico as one of the strongest hurricanes ever registered in the Western Hemisphere, but it avoided populated areas by arriving in a region between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta known as the Costa Alegre and quickly lost strength.

After a 16-month civil war that left 7,000 dead and more than double that injured, Ukrainians are rebuilding physical walls and destroying psychological ones, a nod to the slogan of volunteers with "Building Ukraine Together," an initiative of young people from western and central Ukraine.