When I imagine how the next 11 months can be used most fruitfully, I think about something, or rather someone, who is largely missing from the synod in Rome: the parish priest.

Kerry Alys Robinson began her tenure as chief executive of Catholic Charities USA with a visit to agencies along the southwest border. “I wanted to see firsthand what the realities were," she explained.

While certainly an unorthodox choice, “Carrion Comfort,” by Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., fits with the Christian roots of Halloween as an appraisal of faith in the face of horror.

A Reflection for Friday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, by Christine Lenahan

The Freelings are ignorant of the sacrilege that made their luxurious life possible, but that doesn’t mean they’re innocent.

The announcement marked a major turnaround for the Holy See and followed an outcry among victims and their advocates over the handling of the case of the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik.

As we approach the expected release of the synod’s summary report on Saturday evening and the closing liturgy on Sunday, here are three questions that I will be paying attention to.

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” explores a moment in American history not often read in history books—and not always reckoned with by our churches and country.

After the defeat of “The Voice” referendum, there is still an opportunity for Australians to reckon with their past. Catholics worldwide should also seek reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

Father Marko Rupnik—a renowned mosaic artist who was expelled from the Jesuits for refusing to comply with ministry restrictions after credible abuse accusations—has been accepted into the Diocese of Koper.

As the first session of the Synod on Synodality in Rome draws to a close, the members have released a Letter to the People of God. The letter is the first of two documents expected from the synod before it concludes its business in Rome on Oct. 29.

Most modern constitutional states today describe themselves as republics. Such republics sound as though they have a lot in common with Catholic social teaching. They do.

Pope Francis' recent words to members of the synod on synodality included a strong condemnation of clericalism and a call to respect and honor of all baptized Catholics.

“Recognizing the divergences is unitive,” a bishop member of the synod told me. “It can provide healing.”

In a new letter to the People of God, the synod participants emphasized the importance of continued discernment for the Church's future.

A Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, by Father Terrance Klein

Today, Pope Francis prayed “for all those who suffer” and said he hoped that “paths of peace” may be found for the conflict in the Middle East.

A Reflection for Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time, by Molly Cahill

“Let us ask Saints Cyril and Methodius, apostles of the Slavs, that we may be instruments of ‘freedom in charity’ for others,” Pope Francis said at today’s general audience.