Highlighting progress made in safeguarding and recommendations for rectifying ongoing gaps, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors dedicated its first annual report to all victims and survivors of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church.

Two days after opening the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica to inaugurate the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis will travel to a Rome prison to open a Holy Door as a "tangible sign of the message of hope" for people in prisons around the world, the Vatican announced.

After members of the Synod of Bishops approved their final document, Pope Francis announced that he would not write the customary post-synodal apostolic exhortation but would offer the final document to the entire church to implement.

A remarkable day of faith and devotion unfolded at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in midtown Manhattan Oct. 15 as thousands of Catholics gathered for a Eucharistic procession.

Pope Francis decided the question of ordaining women deacons was not to be discussed at the 2024 Synod of Bishops, and he directed a synod-related study group on women's ministries not to explore the matter, according to the Vatican's doctrinal chief.

As members of the Synod of Bishops entered the last week of their meeting in Rome, the synod's secretary-general urged them to resist the temptation of "covetousness" -- the desire "to keep everything for ourselves, to possess, to hoard, to define, to close."

Bible Book(s)/Chapter(s) to read for week 19: Sunday, October 20 to Saturday, October 26

The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world rose in 2022, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders, and baptisms declined, according to Vatican statistics.