Mid-City Christian: Leo leaves tomorrow for his Latin America journey

Leo leaves tomorrow for his Latin America journey

In Uruguay, the trip’s first stop, Leo will visit a small but busy Montevideo parish that bucks the country’s secular trend. Only 33% of Uruguayans call themselves Catholic, NCR reports, but Our Lady of Guadalupe parish draws more than 50 people to daily Mass. In Montevideo, workers are building a stage at the Estadio Centenario for a prayer vigil, and choirs are rehearsing for Vespers. — National Catholic Reporter (Lucien Chauvin) · Vatican News · Where Peter Is (Claudio Iván Remeseira, “Leo in the Land of Francis”)

Leo marks a century since the first Chinese bishops

In a video message, Leo recalled the six Chinese bishops Pius XI ordained in St. Peter’s on Oct. 28, 1926, calling it “an event of great significance” for the Church in China and the universal Church. Speaking to a Rome conference held by the Dicastery for Evangelization and the Pontifical Urbaniana University, he said the Gospel grows “through the grace of God, not through human strategies,” and urged unity in diversity rather than uniformity. — Vatican News · Full text [IT]

After the midterm rout, a new political reality for the US bishops

With Democrats now controlling both houses of Congress, analysts tell NCR’s Brian Fraga that the bishops will have to learn to work with a new generation of Democrats when they meet in Baltimore Nov. 16–19. Exit polls cited by America found Catholics split 50% Democratic and 49% Republican, which could be a significant swing to the left since the last presidential election. — National Catholic Reporter (Brian Fraga) · America (Will Martino)

Pope and Holy See

At a Mass for the cardinals and bishops who died this year, Leo says praying for the dead “is to celebrate life.” Remembering seven cardinals and 136 bishops, he built his homily around St. Monica’s request to Augustine, “Remember me at the altar of the Lord,” and reflected on hope in the resurrection and the communion of saints. — Vatican News · Holy See Press Office
Leo receives Bob Dylan. The brief meeting came before Dylan’s Rome concert. Leo gave him a rosary and Dylan gave Leo his memoir, “Chronicles: Volume One.” Leo had quoted an unpublished 1963 Dylan lyric against nuclear weapons in a book on disarmament. — National Catholic Reporter (Nicole Winfield, AP) · Vatican News · America (James T. Keane)
The Vatican communications revolution gets underway. Justin McLellan looks at how Montse Alvarado, the 39-year-old Mexican American former EWTN News president who became prefect of the Dicastery for Communication on Nov. 1, may change the way the Holy See presents the pope to the media. — National Catholic Reporter (Justin McLellan)
Leo on AI: “Some decisions must never be delegated.” Where Peter Is highlights Leo’s Oct. 30 call for states meeting in Geneva Nov. 16–20 to take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons, and his insistence that AI systems are “tools, not persons.” — Where Peter Is

United States

Catholic immigrant advocates see a turning point after the midterms. For advocates from Texas to Iowa, the Democratic victories brought hope but not relief: “This is no time for the church to exhale.” — National Catholic Reporter (Camillo Barone)
Meet the Catholics who shaped the 2026 midterms. Catholic identity stayed visible among winners on both sides of the political divide. — National Catholic Reporter (Camillo Barone)
On election night, the religious left is back. Jack Jenkins writes that Democratic wins marked a striking moment for a religious left that has long struggled to match the visibility of conservative Christians. — America (Jack Jenkins, RNS)

Around the World

Spain’s Daughters of Charity answer a migrant crisis in Ceuta. When tens of thousands of migrants arrived in the North African city, five sisters provided food and care in a humanitarian crisis that continues months later. — Global Sisters Report (Isaura Maolen Rodríguez Pérez)
Handmaid Sisters save lives on a dangerous Zambian highway. Nangoma Mission Hospital faces a growing surge in road accidents, worsened by illegal gold mining. — Global Sisters Report (Derrick Silimina)

Video and Podcasts

Pedro Gabriel: “A Church That Doesn’t Seek Converts?” Pedro Gabriel looks at Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco’s statement that the Church in Algeria is not there to convert people, and Bishop Robert Barron’s pushback citing Christ’s command to make disciples. — YouTube (Pedro Gabriel)
Cardinal Czerny on migrants, martyrs, and working for justice. On “The Spiritual Life,” Fr. James Martin talks with Cardinal Michael Czerny about standing with people on the margins and facing hard realities without losing hope. — America Media (YouTube)
Jesuitical: Pope Leo just voted in the U.S. midterms. Should he have done that? Ashley McKinless and Zac Davis talk with Georgetown’s Chris White about Leo’s absentee ballot, the bishops who prayed over President Trump, Montse Alvarado’s start at Vatican communications, and what to watch for on the Latin America trip. — Jesuitical (America Media) · Video (YouTube) (Mike Lewis on Pope Leo voting in the midterms)

Commentary

Opinion: The Democratic wave turned into a tsunami. Michael Sean Winters writes that Catholic voters were part of the reason Democrats took control of both houses of Congress. — National Catholic Reporter (Michael Sean Winters)
Opinion: Treatment of El-Sayed’s faith and language during the midterms was deeply un-Catholic. Karen E. Park argues that Abdul El-Sayed’s Arabic name, Muslim identity, and religious vocabulary were too often treated as if they did not belong in American public life. — National Catholic Reporter (Karen E. Park)