Pope Francis accepted the resignation of a Polish bishop in whose diocese a priest organized a “sexual orgy” as Polish media reported. The nunciature did not indicate in an Oct. 24 statement the reasons why Bishop Grzegorz Kaszak of Sosnowiec resigned, but commentators in Poland expressed surprise at the news of what they called a “fast-track” resignation.
Pope Francis again called for the release of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas militants and for allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In response to Pope Francis’ call for a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace on Oct. 27 as war continues to rage in Gaza and Israel, Bishop Robert Brennan will celebrate a Mass of Prayer and Peace that day at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James.
President Joe Biden and Pope Francis spoke by phone Oct. 22 to discuss the conflict in Israel and Gaza and facilitating a path to “durable peace” in the region, according to the press offices of both leaders.
Nicaragua has expelled a dozen priests held as political prisoners as the increasingly tyrannical regime continues sending clergy into exile and cracking down on the Catholic Church.
The Vatican has confirmed that it has been asked and has agreed to receive 12 priests who had been detained in Nicaragua.
Archbishop Zbigņev Stankevičs of Riga, Latvia, a participant in this month’s Synod of Bishops on Synodality, has said homosexuals are called to live in chastity in accord with Church teaching, but credited Pope Francis for what he called his own “personal conversion” on the issue, becoming less judgmental.
Amid international tensions surrounding the war in Gaza following the deadly bombing of a hospital, Pope Francis has called for another day of prayer and fasting for peace, saying war “cancels the future” and breeds hatred and revenge.
At a Mass celebrating Las Vegas becoming the 33rd U.S. archdiocese, Cardinal Christophe Pierre told those in attendance that the growth of Catholicism in Sin City is the outcome of synodality, that is, “women and men working together on the shared journey of faith.”
The synodal way is not an invention of Pope Francis, but it is based on Jesus’ way of inclusivity and listening, and on divine revelation itself, said Redemptorist Father Vimal Tirimanna, a leading moral theologian from Sri Lanka.
