Pope Francis today called for “the immediate release” of the more than 100 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza and, at the same time, expressed his deep concern at the “total siege” imposed by Israel on Gaza.

“The synod is not a council. It does not take decisions as a council does. Its task is to discern, not decide,” one synod member explained to me.

“We behave completely unjustly, unjustly toward the pope because the opposition to him is always based on one or two phrases taken out of context,” Cardinal Ryś said in an exclusive interview America.

As the death toll rises in Israel, Pope Francis prayer for the families of the victims and “for all those who are living through hours of terror and anxiety.”

What strikes me most about the synod, now in its third day, is the climate of prayer that envelops it, Gerry O’Connell writes.

Cardinal Stephen Brislin, 67, the archbishop of Cape Town, said he sees “enormous signs of hope” for South Africa today, notwithstanding the poverty and “enormous” corruption.

Pope Francis did not attend Vatican II, but from the beginning of his pontificate, he set out with determination to continue its implementation.

Pope Francis told the college of cardinals that it is called “to resemble a symphony orchestra, representing the harmony and synodality of the church.”

We now know everyone who will participate in the historic month-long gathering at the Vatican this October.

The Ukrainian Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia and Metropolitan for the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States speaks about his church's synod and its meeting with Pope Francis.