The Vatican and the Chinese government are renewing their agreement on the appointment of bishops for four years.

“We know that the Holy Father has expressed that at this time the issue of the female diaconate is not mature and has asked that we not entertain this possibility for now,” Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández told the synod Oct. 21.

Pope Francis will welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy back to the Vatican Oct. 11.

The study groups are investigating questions such as how to improve seminary education, ministry to LGBTQ Catholics and possible ministry roles for women in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis said he wanted to respond to a "storm of chattering" that had developed around his expansion of synod membership.

The Catholic Church cannot be credible in its mission of proclaiming Christ unless it acknowledges its mistakes and bends down “to heal the wounds we have caused by our sins,” Pope Francis said.

Some members of the Synod of Bishops may need to let go of old ways of doing things and others may need to let go of a desire to make everything new, Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe said at the pre-synod retreat.

Pope Francis, who has called for the liberation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the former leader of Myanmar and Nobel Peace Prize winner, told Jesuits in Asia that he even had offered to give her refuge at the Vatican.

To fully experience love and hope, young people must approach the journey of life as pilgrims and not just sightseers seeking the perfect selfie, Pope Francis said.

Not long after Pope Francis left Indonesia, authorities there announced they had arrested seven people for making online “terror threats” against the pope.