Mid-City Christian: Villanova had the pope’s support, but Notre Dame swept the college hoops openers in Rome

On All Souls’ Day, Leo prays at Verano for “those whom no one remembers”

Leo celebrates Mass this afternoon at Rome’s Verano Cemetery for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. At Sunday’s Angelus he invited Catholics to feel united “in the communion of saints” with those who have gone before us, and to “pray for the dead, especially for those whom no one remembers.” In NCR, Joseph Orso describes how his rural Wisconsin family washed, waked, and buried his father themselves, and makes the case for the Christian call to tend our dead. — Vatican News · National Catholic Reporter (Joseph Orso) · America (Fr. Terrance Klein, All Souls homily)

Four days out, Leo’s Latin America trip is a high-stakes homecoming

Less than a month after lung surgery, Leo leaves Friday on an 11-day, dozen-flight journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, where he spent more than two decades as a missionary and bishop. “I am looking forward to returning to the continent where I’ve experienced so many moments of my life,” the pope said in a Vatican statement, NCR’s Justin McLellan reports. In Uruguay, where the Catholic share of the population has fallen to 33 percent, Bishop Milton Tróccoli hopes the visit will be “a kind of springtime for the Church,” and Cusco’s new archbishop, Lizardo Estrada Herrera, says Latin Americans see Leo as “one of them.” The Vatican briefs reporters on the program Tuesday. — National Catholic Reporter (Justin McLellan) · Crux (Eduardo Campos Lima) · Vatican News (Tiziana Campisi) · Where Peter Is (Claudio Iván Remeseira, “Leo in the Land of Francis”)

Pope and Holy See

Montse Alvarado takes office as the first laywoman to lead the Dicastery for Communication. Alvarado began her term as prefect Sunday, succeeding Paolo Ruffini. America’s Colleen Dulle looks at the reform of Vatican communications she inherits, which began under Francis and brought the press office, newspaper, radio, publishing house, and film archive under one roof. — America (Colleen Dulle)
[IT] Saints and blesseds: more young people among candidates for the altars. Fr. Bogusław Turek, undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, says more laypeople, young people, married couples, and even whole families are among sainthood candidates, a sign of growing awareness of the universal call to holiness, with rising interest in causes in Africa and Latin America. — Vatican News [IT] (Dorota Abdelmoula-Viet)

United States

Knoxville’s bishop issues an instruction on the SSPX. Bishop Mark Beckman’s Oct. 22 seven-page instruction, which drew criticism from some traditionalist outlets, is a useful primer on the SSPX’s canonical status after the DDF’s July 2 declaration. He writes that attending an unauthorized SSPX-affiliated mission in the diocese does not automatically incur excommunication but is “gravely imprudent” and a “near occasion of schism,” and he invites those involved to reconciliation. — Diocese of Knoxville (Bishop Mark Beckman) · Diocese of Knoxville (Oct. 2 notice)
Dolores Huerta, dead at 96, is remembered for her faith and defense of human dignity. The United Farm Workers co-founder died Oct. 28. Archbishop José Gomez called her “a courageous and heroic defender of human dignity, and a woman of faith who inspired generations of young Hispanic leaders, especially women.” — America (OSV News)
Villanova had the pope’s support, but Notre Dame swept the college hoops openers in Rome. The Notre Dame men came back late to win 74–72, and the women beat Villanova 99–75 in Sunday’s “Eternal City Tip-Off.” Leo, who received all four teams Saturday, did not attend. — Crux (Andrew Dampf, AP)

Around the World

Maronite archeparchy of Haifa condemns attack on a prayer hall in northern Israel. Statues were broken and images vandalized at the Sts. Peter and Paul prayer hall in Nahariya on All Saints’ Day. Archbishop Moussa El-Hage said “such acts can neither be justified nor tolerated” and asked authorities to investigate. — Vatican News
[IT] Russian strikes black out 650 towns in Ukraine as Zelenskyy floats U.S.-Russia talks. The overnight attacks hit the power grid around Zhytomyr and Kyiv. It comes days after the Oleshky humanitarian ceasefire, which Leo hailed Sunday as a “necessary gesture of humanity” that he hopes will lead to “new concrete initiatives for peace.” — Vatican News [IT] (Cecilia Seppia) · Vatican News (Angelus appeal)
Mexico comes alive for the Day of the Dead. Marigolds, candles, and catrina face paint fill the streets as families gather at cemeteries on the night of Nov. 1 to reconnect with their dead. — Crux (AP) · Crux (Philippines, All Saints’ Day)

Video and Podcasts

Pope Leo is calling us to peace, says Ken Butigan. On “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” Fr. John Dear talks with the DePaul professor, who has gathered Leo’s many speeches on peace and nonviolence. “Pope Leo has been calling us over and over and over again to be unarmed and disarming,” Butigan says. — National Catholic Reporter (John Dear)

Commentary

Opinion: US bishops are at a crossroads as they head into their fall assembly. Michael Sean Winters says the “old culture warrior model” of Church leadership is giving way to one “more pastoral and less worldly,” and that the 12 bishops’ White House visit showed the features of that turning point. — National Catholic Reporter (Michael Sean Winters)
Opinion: This November, pray for the migrants who have died because of ICE. Terence Sweeney names migrants who died in custody or were shot during enforcement, and asks Catholics to remember them in the month of the dead. — America (Terence Sweeney)