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."

The announcement that the United States will cap its intake of refugees at 30,000 was swiftly denounced by Catholic leaders.

Congress has authorized one-third of the estimated $120 billion some estimate Puerto Rico will require for recovery.

Bono met the pope Sept. 19 to sign an agreement between his charity, ONE, and the Scholas Occurentes educational charity supported by Pope Francis.

Researchers reported that physicians and others told them that Puerto Rico's government did not notify them about federal guidelines on how to document deaths related to a major disaster.

The militant Islamist group Boko Haram has decimated villages in northern Nigeria, but Catholic parishioners remain faithful and courageous.