Mid-City Christian: “Take courage! I have overcome the world”

Leo to young people: “Take courage! I have overcome the world”

In his message for World Youth Day, Leo tells young people that Christian courage “does not arise primarily from our own strength; it comes from his presence.” Released today for the Nov. 22 diocesan celebration and the August 2027 gathering in Seoul, the message speaks to young people anxious about the future and pressured “to succeed and appear perfect,” noting that “technology cannot replace authentic human closeness but can only imitate empathy.” He invites them to follow Christ’s “gentle courage”: “the courage to show love when harshness seems easier,” to seek peace, and “to hold fast to hope when cynicism seems more convincing.” — Full text (vatican.va) · Holy See Press Office [IT] · Vatican News [IT]

On Election Day, Catholics work for peace at the polls

As Americans vote in the midterms, some 375 Franciscan Action Network poll chaplains in several dozen states will offer “a peaceful presence to the polls — a deescalating presence,” Robert Christian told OSV News. In Dallas, parish-based organizers reject the “sleeping giant” label for Latino voters: “Our community is awake,” Amanda Benavidez tells America’s J.D. Long García. And OSV’s Kate Scanlon reports that theologian Meghan J. Clark sees Leo’s historic mail-in ballot as “modeling faithful citizenship.” — National Catholic Reporter (Gina Christian, OSV News) · America (J.D. Long García) · OSV News (Kate Scanlon, Washington Letter)

Vatican briefs press on Leo’s trip as Peru mourns two bishops

Press office director Matteo Bruni presents the program of the Nov. 6–17 journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru at a briefing today. Archbishop Richard Alarcón of Cusco, which Leo visits Nov. 15, died Oct. 30, and Bishop Jorge Pedro Carrión Pavlich of Puno died Oct. 31. Former Uruguayan ambassador Guzmán Carriquiry says the trip is no coincidence in starting in Uruguay, where Catholic tradition is rooted in the origins of the nation, and OSV’s Junno Arocho Esteves writes that for Peruvians it is “the return of a missionary, a neighbor, a shepherd.” — Holy See Press Office [IT] (briefing notice) · Vatican News (Guzmán Carriquiry) · OSV News (David Agren) · OSV News (Junno Arocho Esteves) · Where Peter Is (Claudio Iván Remeseira, “Leo in the Land of Francis”)

Supreme Court hears Catholic preschool case today

The justices hear oral arguments today in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a potential landmark case on religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws. Two Catholic parishes, parents, and the Archdiocese of Denver argue that Colorado’s universal preschool program, which requires participating schools to enroll children regardless of their parents’ sexual orientation or gender identity, discriminates against them for their religious beliefs; Colorado says it will fund religious preschools that do not discriminate on those grounds. — National Catholic Reporter (Brian Fraga)

Pope and Holy See

At Verano, Leo prays that mourners’ tears move those with “the power to silence the weapons.” At All Souls’ Day Mass in Rome’s largest cemetery Monday, he called the Beatitudes “the path to a full and fulfilled life—both now and in eternity” and prayed especially for those who have lost loved ones to “the senseless violence of war.” — Vatican News (Christopher Wells) · National Catholic Reporter (Courtney Mares, OSV News)
[IT] Also from the Holy See Press Office. Leo will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Nov. 18 for the 400th anniversary of its dedication, and the fifth annual report of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform will be presented Wednesday with Sr. Alessandra Smerilli and UISG executive secretary Sr. Roxanne Schares. — Liturgical celebrations notice [IT] · Press conference notice [IT]

United States

Cardinal Tobin’s kidney surgery “went as planned.” The Archdiocese of Newark says the Oct. 29 procedure to remove a mass from his kidney had no complications; he returned home Friday and will refrain from public appearances for several weeks. — Archdiocese of Newark
Archbishop Broglio warns U.S. soldiers are at growing risk of “moral injury.” The military archbishop tells America’s Kevin Clarke he stands by his view that Catholic service members are “obliged” not to take part in the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, and raises concern about combat increasingly conducted at a distance. — America (Kevin Clarke)
Pew: Religion “stable” in the U.S., with “mixed signals” from young adults. After “a prolonged decline,” steady percentages of U.S. adults say they identify with and practice religion, and 18- to 22-year-olds report relatively high rates of attendance. — America (Gina Christian, OSV News)
The Baltimore priest taking guns off the streets. Fr. Mike Murphy, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish, has run a gun buyback with the Baltimore police since 2023, the only such diocesan effort in the country. — America (John W. Miller)
Idaho voters weigh in on abortion after an appeals court lets the state’s ban stand. A 2–1 Ninth Circuit panel ruled Oct. 30 that the ban may continue to be fully enforced as voters decide the question directly today. — OSV News (Kate Scanlon)
Interfaith migration summit seeks common ground on welcoming the stranger. At an Oct. 29–30 summit hosted by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leaders compared notes on serving immigrants. “We have much to learn from one another,” said CLINIC executive director Anna Gallagher. — OSV News (Kate Scanlon)
Georgetown dialogue to take up slavery and human dignity in “Magnifica Humanitas.” On Nov. 9, Bishop Robert Boxie III, Sr. Mūmbi Kīgūtha, Adam Rothman, and Rachel Swarns will explore how the Church can respond with “discernment and responsibility,” as Leo wrote in the encyclical that apologized for the Church’s historic complicity in slavery. — Georgetown Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life

Around the World

Nigeria’s bishops appeal for free and peaceful elections. Three days of prayer and fasting are under way ahead of the vote. “The Bishops’ main concern is that Nigerians should be able to freely choose their leaders,” said Fr. Michael Banjo of the Catholic Secretariat. — Vatican News
Poland’s bishops plead for reconciliation as a constitutional crisis spills into the streets. The bishops’ conference leadership warned Oct. 31 that the dispute over the Constitutional Tribunal “is leading to a profound crisis of the state.” — National Catholic Reporter (Katarzyna Szalajko, OSV News)
Sisters and friars in El Salvador stand with a village near the CECOT mega-prison. Religious orders are supporting a rural community fighting water contamination and a landfill near the prison, which can hold up to 40,000 inmates. — Global Sisters Report (Rhina Guidos)

Video and Podcasts

Cardinal Czerny on the spirituality of social justice: “Keep it simple and keep it close.” On “The Spiritual Life,” he tells Fr. James Martin that “what makes situations depressing is the feeling of helplessness in front of them,” and that the answer is to face problems, especially by helping those most in need. — America (Maggi Van Dorn)
Why are young Latinos leaving the Church, and what does it mean for politics? Georgetown’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life has posted video of its Oct. 28 Latino Leader Gathering with Juan Miguel Alvarez, Jasmin Chavez Cruz, Aleja Hertzler-McCain, and Joe Rubio, moderated by Christian Soenen. — YouTube (Georgetown Initiative) · Event page

Commentary

Opinion: From midterm elections onward, let us give up the word “hate.” With angry ads in Michigan’s Senate race “blaming and shaming a Muslim candidate,” Sr. Nancy Sylvester asks whether the hate will end with the campaign and urges letting go of the word itself. — Global Sisters Report (Sr. Nancy Sylvester)
Opinion: The Catholic case against institutionalizing people with disabilities. Michael M. Waddell, father of two daughters with disabilities, urges Catholics to raise their voices so coerced institutionalization does not become the future for people with disabilities. — America (Michael M. Waddell)