Justin McLellan

The youngest member of the synod assembly is confident that the Holy Spirit is guiding the Synod of Bishops, but to get out of class he looked for a little extra help from the pope.

"The Amazon really is a symbol, a symbol of the need to change our mentality, to be less consumeristic, to chase after money less," said Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, the first cardinal from the Amazon region. 

Pope Francis called for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss the humanitarian crisis and the need to de-escalate violence in the region.

Members of the Synod of Bishops will issue a "Letter to the People of God" at the close of the first session of the synod assembly, which ends Oct. 29, the Vatican said.

The Catholic Church's synodal process, intended to actively solicit input from all its members, is not a threat to the hierarchy, a cardinal said.

Through a vast network of priests, diplomats, ordinary faithful and Jews themselves, the Vatican was one "one of the major points of arrival of news of the Jewish genocide" taking place during World War II, a scholar examining the Vatican's wartime archives said.

Rather than hide behind a facade of faithfulness, Christians should be sincere with God even when telling him "no," Pope Francis said.

"Silence, in the ecclesial community, makes fraternal communication possible, where the Holy Spirit draws together points of view," Pope Francis said to members of the synod, Christian leaders and young people in St. Peter's Square Sept. 30. 

The Vatican urged members of the U.N. Security Council to be "creative and courageous artisans of peace and weavers of constructive dialogue" to find a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine.

Inspired by the dignity of each human being as revealed by Jesus, Christians are called to fight "every form of slavery," whether physical, social or spiritual, Pope Francis said.

The Vatican urged the international community to press for a "special statute" to guarantee religious freedom in the city of Jerusalem in any agreements regarding a peace deal between Israel and Palestine.

Kicking off the 2023 Clinton Global Initiative meeting of leaders in New York City Sept. 18, Pope Francis told former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the global community to take action to ensure peace for future generations and stop climate change "before it's too late."

Forgiveness, received freely and constantly from God, is a "fundamental value" for Christians that must be practiced and passed on to others, Pope Francis said.

The Vatican is asking all baptized people, regardless of whether they will be in Rome, to participate in October's assembly of the Synod of Bishops with their prayers.

Communicating Pope Francis' efforts to promote dialogue and advance peace efforts in Ukraine is a "great problem" for Catholic clergy and faithful in the country, said the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Rather than engage in petty gossip, which leads to scandal, Christians are called by Jesus to be direct yet loving in offering help to an errant friend, Pope Francis said.

After an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that a financial relationship exists between the Vatican and Moscow, the Vatican bank said Sept. 9 that it "does not receive nor invest money from Russia."

Auxiliary Bishop Maksym Ryabukha of Donetsk was one of 45 bishops who traveled to Rome for the Ukrainian church's annual synod and to meet with Pope Francis and other Vatican officials. "People's esteem for the pope is very fragile"  the bishop said.

Society has slipped into a culture of indifference so pervasive that "our necks are going to get stiff" from constantly turning away from the suffering of marginalized people, Pope Francis said.

Like St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American woman to be canonized, all Christians must embrace their unique call to service of God and neighbor as well as the personal crosses that come with it, Pope Francis said.