Middle East

In a Pastoral Letter on the 2021-2023 Synod, Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa says all ecclesial communities should get involved, and suggests the method of the two Disciples of Emmaus as a way forward.

A group of women looking for sons and daughters who were never heard from again after migrating to the U.S. traveled in mid- to late October throughout the country to plead for better immigration laws.

Pope Francis remembered the victims of violence over the past week in attacks taking place in Norway, Afghanistan, and the UK. He also recalled the beatification of Fr. Juan Elías Medina and 126 companions martyred in Spain in the 1930s.

A week after Pope Francis launched a 2-year-long process in preparation for the 2023 Synod of Bishops, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay inaugurated it at the level of his Archdiocese on Oct. 17.

Marking 100 years since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between France and the Holy See, the French Prime Minister and the Secretary of State of the Holy See meet for a roundtable discussion, in which they emphasise the good relations between Paris and the Vatican despite the crises and misunderstandings that have marked their history, not only during the last century, but also, and above all, before.

In the wake of Iraq’s parliamentary elections, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch urges Iraqi politicians to be rational and calm tensions in order to break the political gridlock as parties jockey for influence.

Schools, banks and government offices across Lebanon shut down after hours of gun battles between heavily armed militias killed seven people and terrorized the residents of Beirut. The government has called for a day of mourning.

The Bishops' Conference of Central Asia brings together bishops and administrators of the Churches in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan

Evacuated in August as the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, the head of the now-interrupted Catholic mission said this is a time of "advent," waiting for God to reveal how the church can be present in the country again.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges the Taliban to guarantee the rights and freedoms of Afghans, especially of women, saying they are crucial to stopping Afghanistan from slipping into the abyss.

Given the challenges facing the Catholic Church and the faithful in the world today, the rosary "is our true weapon, which heaven gave us for our time," said Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan. Bishop Schneider likened the five mysteries prayed in each decade of the rosary to the five stones David used to take down Goliath.

The day after authorities announced her release from kidnappers in Mali, Colombian Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez Argoti was at the Vatican for a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and was greeted by Pope Francis.

Marking the annual International Day of the Girl Child, the new Superior General of the Congregation of the Apostolic Carmel talks about her Order's mission to empower girls through education, for their good and for the good of all.

Franciscan Nun Sister Gloria Cecelia Narvaez, kidnapped in 2017 in Mali, is finally free and in good health and sparkling good spirits. She was greeted by Pope Francis on Sunday morning at the Mass celebrated for the start of the Synodal process.

President Armen Sarkissian of Armenia was received by Pope Francis at an audience in the Vatican on Monday morning.

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar speaks to Vatican Media about his relationship with Pope Francis: "From the first minute of our meeting I had confirmation that he is a man of peace and humanity. The encyclical is an appeal to create a true fraternity where there is no room for discrimination on the basis of differences of religion, race, gender, or other forms of intolerance."

Aid to the Church in Need’s director of projects says children in Syria are rummaging for food and people are surviving on a dollar a day.

Two WFP and UNICEF officials have raised an alarm over the severe food and nutrition crisis in Afghanistan after a 2-day visit.

The Archbishop of Erbil expresses his concern over the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, saying the upcoming withdrawal of remaining US troops from Iraq could have a negative impact on Christians and other minorities in Iraq.

The bishops of the Armenian Catholic Church elected Archbishop Raphaël François Minassian, the ordinary for Armenian Catholics in Eastern Europe, to be their church's new patriarch.