The Most Rev. Thomas John Paprocki, the bishop of Springfield in Illinois, and the Most Rev. Kevin W. Vann, the bishop of Orange in California, write in response to America’s interview with Senator Durbin.

“Journalism is not so much a matter of choosing a profession,” the pope said, “but rather of embarking on a mission, a bit like a doctor, who studies and works to cure evil in the world.”

The pope sent a letter of thanks to Michael O'Loughlin, America's national correspondent, this summer after receiving an advance copy of “Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.”

Pope Francis: The Gospel helps us to interpret “today’s pain and tomorrow’s hope” and calls on us to be ”witnesses of compassion amid widespread disinterest.”

They were intent on responding with mercy to a crisis that at the time showed no signs of slowing.

“This could have a profound change in the life of the church.”

Sunday, Nov. 14, marks 25 years since Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s death. Do Catholics today want a church that is “alive and rooted, public in its service to the city” and the world?

The climate summit in Glasgow only reminds us that the Paris Agreement is weak and overly dependent on market incentives. The Catholic Church and “Laudato Si’” provide a better foundation for real change.

Cathedrals and basilicas have become a part of urban culture and are fertile ground for creatively sharing the faith, as seen in Montreal’s Basilica of Notre-Dame.

It is not sufficient for contemporary Catholics simply to repeat the formulas of the past.