The chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan was due in part to a lack of foreseeing all possible eventualities, Pope Francis said in a new interview.

A top-ranking Roman Catholic cardinal who eschewed the COVID-19 vaccine said he will soon begin rehabilitation after contracting the coronavirus and spending days on a ventilator.

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, encouraged Catholics to receive one of the coronavirus vaccines if they discern that it is appropriate to do so.

El Salvador has set a Jan. 22 date for the beatifications of Jesuit Father Rutilio Grande, Franciscan Father Cosme Spessotto and two laymen.

Surrounded by other churches with huge congregations, Mother Teresa Catholic Church in Cary, N.C., remains intentionally small to more directly minister to its parishioners.

Pope Francis held a private audience with Nadia Murad, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and survivor of the Islamic State-led genocide in Iraq, Aug. 26 at the Vatican. She is the first Iraqi and Yazidi to be awarded a Nobel Prize.