Pope Francis celebrated Mass for East Timor’s overwhelming Catholic majority on Sept. 10, applauding the country for its high percentage of youth and stressing the importance of becoming small and humble in order for God to work miracles.

As Pope Francis begins his brief, two-day visit to East Timor, one of the key underlying issues he will have to grapple with is the clerical sexual abuse crisis as the nation reels from allegations against highly revered members of the clergy.

Pope Francis has concluded the first leg of his four-nation tour of Asia and Oceania, leaving Indonesia Friday morning and landing in Papua New Guinea, where he is likely to address key agenda items such as poverty and climate change.

In the main event of his three-day visit to Jakarta, Pope Francis Thursday visited the city’s famed Istiqlal Mosque, where he and Muslim leaders outlined their vision for a moderate and tolerant society and called for an end to violent extremism.

On his final day in Indonesia, Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the country’s minority Catholic population, telling them not to be discouraged in the face of difficulties and failure and to take risks in following Christ.

A Ukrainian Catholic University student and all but one member of her immediate family were among those killed in a Sept. 4 strike by Russia on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

In what was a devastating Sunday morning for hostage families, Israel reported on Sept. 1 that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents became outspoken global advocates for all hostages to be released.

Pope Francis arrived in Jakarta for the first of a four-leg journey to southeast Asia that will showcase not only his affinity for the continent but also his desire to advance the cause of peace and unity amid vast cultural and religious diversity.

A study published in July revealed that a new analysis of the Shroud of Turin, including the composition and a microscopic analysis of bloodstains, shows that the marks are consistent with the tortures endured by Christ as described in the Gospels.

With the approaching one-year mark of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, spurred by the Hamas attack on southern Israeli agricultural communities Oct. 7, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem urged the warring sides to “reach a rapid agreement” for a cease-fire.