St. Francis didn’t just serve the poor and love animals. He taught us how to die well, too.

God gives everyone a mission, the mission he gave Diana George Babish is to take care of the abused and abandoned animals in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo urged bishops make this special appeal and that "we each take up the collection as soon as possible so that those most in need can receive assistance quickly."

Describing this synod as a “moment of grace for the whole church,” Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit “may help us to preserve the memory of the Lord.”

The percentage of U.S. Catholics who view the pope favorably, while still strong, is noticeably down.

The crises in the Catholic Church demand long-term solutions that are best addressed by gradual discernment leading to broad consensus on the part of the college of bishops.