NATION/WORLD

Pope Francis is expected to speak about using the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to rethink economic, political and environmental policies in a way that will benefit humanity and the earth.

The commander of U.S. Navy Region Southwest in San Diego announced late Sept. 8 that for at least the next year, she was reversing her earlier decision to end Catholic services on three Navy bases.

Young Catholics are giving the church a valuable lesson in the real meaning of "synodality," Pope Francis wrote.

Pope Francis will travel to Assisi Oct. 3 to sign an encyclical on the social, political and economic obligations that flow from a belief that all people are children of God and therefore brothers and sisters to one another.

The pleasure of seeing other people face to face and not "screen to screen" as COVID-19 restrictions ease clearly demonstrates that people are social beings and need one another, Pope Francis said.

Louisiana priests that support each other with ongoing camaraderie and spiritual nourishment are now also providing very essential hurricane relief to priests and the parishes they serve in areas that were devastated by recent storm damage.

Between Pope Francis and retired Pope Benedict XVI, there is "continuity of magisterium and particularity in pastoral style," but even more, there is "a living communion of affection."

The exploitation and plundering of the Earth's resources at the expense of the poor and vulnerable cry out for justice and the forgiveness of debts, Pope Francis said.

Christ's cross is a powerful symbol of God's love for humanity and not just a decoration or trinket, Pope Francis said.

Milvia Monachesi, mayor of Castel Gandolfo, said "for a moment" in 2013, "I thought I was the luckiest mayor in the world: I would have two popes. … But now there isn't even one."