Catholic News

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sister Mary Teresa Barron as adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization in the Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, while also entrusting her with leadership of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the Irish religious sister will assume her new responsibilities on Jan. 4, 2027.

Barron, superior general of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, will take on one of the most significant leadership positions in the Church's missionary activity. As president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, she will coordinate and promote missionary cooperation among local Churches throughout the world, particularly in regions where the Church is growing and facing significant pastoral challenges.

In 2024, during a press conference following Synod on Synodality discussions, Barron, then president of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), which represents approximately 600,000 religious sisters in 80 countries, addressed the question of women who experience "a call to priesthood."

While discussion of women deacons is often framed in terms of whether women can be ordained in the Church today, Barron argued that the issue should also be approached from another perspective.

"I think we have to look at the question very much from … the Spirit. 'Is the Spirit calling women?' Because some women do sense a call to priesthood or diaconate," she said on Oct. 7, 2024.

Barron also said that, "even if at the moment we may not be looking at ordained ministry" for women, discussion on the issue should continue.

The Irish religious sister further emphasized that opportunities for women to assume positions of governance in the Church continue to depend in large part on cultural factors. She said women are able to take on broader leadership roles in some societies, while doing so remains more difficult in others because of cultural realities.

"I think we have to look at broader than just can or can we not from a theological or a canonical point of view, but in terms of the spirit calling to ministry today and in terms … of the needs of mission today," she said.

Barron concluded by calling for continued reflection on the issue: "Are those calls there and can we continue the discussion? I think that's what we would be asking at this point in time. Can we continue the discussion in relation to that?"

ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, attempted to contact Barron for clarification regarding her views but did not receive a response by publication time.

Missionary work in Africa

Born in Donegal, Ireland, on Nov. 7, 1968, Barron has academic training in public administration and international development. She earned a master's degree in health administration from Dublin's Institute of Public Administration and a master's degree in international development from the Kimmage Development Studies Centre.

Since 2018, she has served as superior general of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, a congregation dedicated to evangelization and missionary service, especially in several African countries.

Her leadership experience also includes prominent roles in international organizations connected to consecrated life and missionary activity. From 2022 to 2025, she served as president of the Service of Documentation and Study on Global Mission (SEDOS), and from 2023 to 2025 she led the UISG, the international organization representing superiors general of women's religious congregations worldwide.

Growing presence of women in Vatican leadership

Barron becomes one of the highest-ranking women in the Roman Curia and the first woman to lead the pontifical missionary network operating in more than 120 countries.

Her appointment is part of a series of appointments by Pope Leo XIV that have strengthened the trend of placing women in senior Vatican leadership positions.

The pope's first major appointment of a woman came on May 22, 2025, when he named Sister Tiziana Merletti secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

The presence of women in leadership roles continued to expand on April 1, 2026, when Paola Fanelli was appointed director of human resources for the Holy See.

Another significant appointment came on June 2, 2026, when Leo XIV named María Montserrat Alvarado, currently president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication. The Mexican-American journalist and scholar is scheduled to become, on Nov. 1, the first woman to lead the department responsible for coordinating the Holy See's communications system, including Vatican News, Vatican Radio, L'Osservatore Romano, and Vatican digital platforms.

On June 30, the pope also appointed Salesian Sister Alessandra Smerilli, 51, as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Smerilli, a professor of political economy, had served as secretary of the dicastery since 2021 and was already the first woman to reach that level within the department.

Pope Leo XIV received representatives of the Association of Vatican Lay Workers and the Women in the Vatican Association on Monday. During the meeting, he said that "the presence of women" in the Vatican "is a valuable asset that must be increasingly recognized and appreciated."

The pope added that women "bring not only a special sensitivity toward people and relationships but also the full range of human, professional, and intellectual talents inherent in the female experience and perspective."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Pope Leo XIV urged students and faculty at Rome's pontifical universities to "guard your hearts" and warned against reducing intellectual activity to the collection of data during a Mass Thursday marking the opening of the academic year.

Celebrating the Eucharist in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope emphasized the mission of pontifical universities, the importance of critical thinking in the life of faith, and the need to connect academic study with the experiences of ordinary people, especially the poor.

Reflecting on St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, Leo said that intellectual inquiry is essential to both faith and mission.

The apostle's words, he explained, are "an appeal to reason, memory, and critical thinking."

"In every age, there is no shortage of false teachers who exploit the religious sentiments of many believers for their own interests, often pushing them to radicalize certain aspects of the teaching they have received at the expense of the whole — the whole, which is Christ and his Gospel," the pope warned.

He encouraged students and professors to regard their academic work as a service to the Church and to the search for truth.

"Dear friends, consider study as a service to faith and truth: for your own good and for the good of so many brothers and sisters for whom the Lord gave his life," he said.

Reason and the willingness to ask questions, guided by Scripture and Church tradition, are indispensable to Christian faith, Leo continued.

The Church, he said, has "both the desire and the responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the treasure of revelation and to develop, within diverse contexts, a prayerful understanding of it, scholarly reflection, cultural mediation, and practical application."

The pope also addressed the relationship between human intelligence and technology, drawing a distinction between the accumulation of information and the deeper understanding that comes from personal experience.

"The mind must not simply compile data — as an algorithm now does more quickly than we can — but recall lived experiences, which contain depths of meaning that only the human soul can recognize, and connect more deeply with the goodness of these experiences," he said.

Academic routines, ambition, and rivalries can distract people from the spiritual foundations of their work, leaving them exhausted, divided, and unhappy, Leo cautioned.

"We must therefore return to the heart. That is where it all began; the beginning to which we can always return," he said.

"Dearest friends, guard your hearts. Whether you are students, researchers, or teachers, guard your hearts, so that every stage of life and every responsibility may be lived 'with the Spirit.'"

The pope also emphasized the importance of friendships formed during university studies, particularly those grounded in a common search for truth in Christ.

He urged the academic community to remain connected to the wider Church and attentive to the concerns of ordinary believers.

"Remain rooted in the people of God, value its 'sensus fidei,' and be open to its questions. And do not forget the poor, who are sometimes that persistent friend who comes knocking during the night," he said.

The relationship between scholarship and everyday life, Leo explained, is fundamental to the Christian understanding of the Incarnation.

"Bring life into your studies and your studies into life, following the logic of the Incarnation, apart from which revelation falls silent," he said.

"Indeed, the further we stray from the complete reality that the Son of God took on and lived with infinite love, the less we will have to say and the fewer opportunities we will have to understand."

The pope reminded his listeners that many people lack the educational opportunities available to students at Rome's pontifical universities.

"Let us open the door; let us not shut ourselves off," he said.

Referring to his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, Leo called for cooperation in building a society in which God can dwell with humanity in peace.

He noted that the fragmentation of knowledge and the impact of new technologies on the human mind present challenges requiring careful reflection.

Quoting the encyclical, he said that "a genuinely healthy attitude is needed, requiring rhythms that incorporate silence, in-depth study, reading, and judicious analysis, for without these elements inner freedom may be compromised."

Theology, he added, has an important contribution to make in addressing those challenges and bringing different fields of knowledge into dialogue.

Rome's ecclesiastical institutions have a particular responsibility in this regard because of their service to the universal Church and their role as meeting places for students and scholars from different cultures and traditions.

The pope concluded by encouraging students to take full advantage of the international character of the pontifical universities and to form lasting relationships across cultural and geographic boundaries.

"Look around you at university: The world is seated in your classrooms. Studying alongside you are people from Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania," he said.

"Do not limit yourselves to simply sitting next to one another: Get to know one another, talk to one another, listen to one another, share your experiences of the Church, pray together, share moments of leisure, and forge friendships that will last a lifetime."

Leo ended his homily by entrusting the new academic year to the intercession of Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, and invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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A conference in Rome reflected on the legacy of Mexico's Cristero movement, marking the 100th anniversary of the Catholic uprising against the country's secular government.

The "Viva Cristo Rey! Centenary of the Cristero Epic" began Oct. 7 at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and continues through Oct. 9. The Cristero War began in 1926, and scholars examined its martyrs' legacy and church-state relations across Latin America.

Among those present were the Mexican ambassador to the Holy See, Alberto Medardo Barranco Chavarría; Rodrigo Guerra Lopez, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America; and Italian Catholic politician and intellectual Rocco Buttiglione.

La Cristiada: A just war?

The Cristero War in Mexico lasted from 1926-1929, during which armed Catholics, known as the Cristeros, resisted the government's fierce anticlerical laws. According to estimates from the Mexican Bishops' Conference, more than 200,000 people were killed for defending the faith against persecution, producing martyrs such as St. José Sánchez del Río and Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro.

Amid these figures, debates have arisen about the movement's legacy in light of the violence committed by members of the Cristeros in retaliation against anticlerical laws.

Buttiglione, who withdrew as Italy's nominee to the European Commission in 2004 after lawmakers objected to comments rooted in his Catholic beliefs about marriage, defended their actions as courageous despite their mistakes.

"We honor the courage of a people who fought and shed their blood for the freedom to live their faith," Buttiglione said in his speech. "We are not afraid to acknowledge the mistakes and even the culpability of Catholics who lived through this immense tragedy. But they cannot condemn a people rebelling to defend the right to religious freedom."

Conversely, Guerra described the Cristero movement to EWTN News as "complex" and cited Pope Leo XIV's teaching on a "disarmed and disarming peace."

"I believe that the Cristero movement was a complex movement," Guerra told EWTN News. "It was neither entirely white nor entirely black. Those who lived Christianity and the faith, guided by Pope Leo XIV's conviction for a disarmed and disarming peace, even if they did not use that language, are today recognized as martyrs and blesseds, and let's hope many saints in the future."

Church and state in Latin America

During the conference, scholars also examined the relationship between the Church and secular governments before and after the Cristero War.

In 1929, the war ended with the so-called "Agreements" between the Mexican bishops and President Emilio Portes Gil. The Cristeros laid down their arms after the agreements, but many, according to Franco-Mexican historian Jean Meyer, were still martyred afterward.

Barranco Chavarría told EWTN News that the characterization of the state's stance against the Church is false.

"There is an interpretation that no longer corresponds to the current government of Mexico. It was always said that the government was trying to silence the Cristeros issue, that it was trying to minimize it. The truth is that no," Barranco Chavarría told EWTN News.

Guerra added that their relationship was shaped by laicism, the doctrine of separation between church and state.

"Laicism has been very harmful in the history of Mexico," Guerra told EWTN News. "We continue fighting against that disease, but we need to learn every day how the right to religious liberty is promoted joyfully."

A potential visit from Pope Leo to Mexico?

The last pontiff to visit Mexico was Pope Francis in 2016.

Barranco Chavarría expressed hope for a future visit from Pope Leo XIV, also noting the visit of Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in August, during which he said the pope is "very eager to come to Mexico."

"The pope received an official invitation on the day of his inauguration," Barranco Chavarría told EWTN News. "During a phone call with the Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, the pope said he was strongly interested in visiting Mexico for the 500th anniversary of the Virgin of Guadalupe's apparitions in 2031. We hope that next year, around October or November, this dream of the Mexicans can finally become a reality."

Guerra added about his visit: "We hope that the pope will reinvigorate a new presence of Christian inspiration in public life, which we need so much in our Latin American countries, especially at times when extreme ideologies of the left or the right seem to tear the fabric of our societies."

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The Holy See's permanent observer to the U.N. urged the international community to abolish the death penalty during a meeting at the 81st General Assembly.

Archbishop Christophe El-Kassis argued for an end to capital punishment during a meeting of the Third Committee on Oct. 7, saying the defense of human rights must be "consistent and universal, extending to every person, at every stage and in every circumstance."

El-Kassis' remarks come after Tennessee's Sept. 30 botched execution of convicted murderer Christa Pike, who survived the administration of two syringes of lethal pentobarbital and is receiving medical treatment. A week later, Texas executed a man, marking the 30th execution carried out in the United States in 2026. Separately, President Donald Trump on Oct. 5 approved an execution by a military firing squad.

"The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person," El-Kassis said, quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church. "This God-given dignity is never forfeited, no matter the gravity of the crime. Advances in penal systems now allow states to protect society effectively without foreclosing the possibility of repentance and redemption."

El-Kassis emphasized that "there is no recourse" if the death penalty is carried out against an innocent person.

"Conversely, the victims and their families are entitled to solidarity, support, and a justice that is prompt, impartial, and humane. However, the taking of another life cannot restore what has been lost," he said. "The purpose of punishment is not vengeance, but rather to repair the social bond, protect the common good, and reintegrate the offender."

He concluded by calling on states in the U.S. where the practice is legal to "consider establishing, without delay, a moratorium on executions as a step towards abolition," commute existing sentences, ensure fair trials, and enhance rehabilitation efforts.

Drug trafficking

El-Kassis also spoke on the topic of drug trafficking addressing those gathered at the Third Committee meeting on "Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice" with a call to uphold the law for the protection of human dignity and rights of others.

"Renewed determination is required in the face of expanding drug markets and the links between drug trafficking, corruption, and criminal activity around the world," he said during the Oct. 7 session. "Furthermore, organized criminal groups are exploiting technology and innovation to expand their reach and diversify their operations."

Quoting Pope Leo XIV, El-Kassis highlighted that prevention against drug use and trafficking must be accompanied by education that begins within the family and continues in schools, "imparting accurate scientific knowledge of the ruinous effects of narcotics upon the brain, the body, personal conduct, and the common good of the community."

"The Catholic Church will continue to contribute to the common good and the inalienable, God-given dignity of every human person," he said.

Indigenous peoples

El-Kassis also spoke during a session of the Third Committee on the "Rights of Indigenous Peoples."

"Every human person is endowed with inherent dignity and equal rights. Indigenous peoples, with their unique histories, cultures, spiritualities, and ancestral bonds to the land, form an indispensable part of the human family," he said. "Their rights must be respected, protected, and promoted as a matter of justice and of the common good."

El-Kassis further emphasized that "Indigenous peoples are not objects of development policies, but subjects and protagonists of their own destinies."

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Catholic health institutions in Illinois will enjoy broad protection against the state's assisted suicide law after a federal court expanded a block against the law to protect religious objectors from being forced to participate in it.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois earlier this year ruled in favor of multiple Catholic plaintiffs, including Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki and Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich, barring the state from requiring them to participate in the suicide regime there. Multiple groups of religious sisters have also been included in those protective orders.

The Thomas More Society, a legal group representing Paprocki and several others in their lawsuit, announced on Oct. 8 that "nearly every Catholic health care institution in Illinois" had been included in an expanded court order blocking the suicide law from being enforced.

Among the protected entities are the Catholic Medical Association, the Catholic Psychotherapy Association, and numerous Catholic healthcare affiliates in the Diocese of Springfield.

The order is temporary and will last only so long as the lawsuit against the state suicide law plays out, but Thomas More Society litigation head Peter Breen said in a news release that the law firm would "keep fighting until that protection is permanent."

"Catholic and Christian health care providers, from hospitals and nursing homes to physicians, nurses, and therapists, strive to heal, not harm, and for generations, have cared for the sick and dying in keeping with their faith," Breen said, arguing that the state has "no right or authority" to coerce them into helping patients kill themselves.

Narrow opt-out laws mean the Catholic care providers were not obligated to actively facilitate the specific act of suicide. But the state law still requires them to participate in the suicide regime in various other ways, including touting the alleged benefits of taking one's own life.

Elsewhere in the U.S., Rockville Centre, New York, Bishop John Barres and a coalition of four communities of religious sisters won a victory in July when a U.S. district judge said the state would be barred from enforcing its new suicide law against the Catholic plaintiffs while their own federal suit played out.

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Church leaders in South Sudan have called for an immediate halt to hostilities and urgent action to protect civilians amid worsening insecurity, killings, abductions, and displacement across the country.

In a statement issued Oct. 5, members of the South Sudan Council of Churches — which includes representatives of the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference — said the suffering of South Sudanese people had reached a point where "silence is no longer an option."

"We, the church leaders of the South Sudan Council of Churches, express our grave concerns over the continuing deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the country," they said.

The leaders called on the government, traditional authorities, armed groups, and communities to end violence and revenge attacks, secure roads and river transport corridors, and guarantee "safe and unhindered humanitarian access" to affected populations.

They also urged the strengthening of local peace and reconciliation mechanisms, calling on parties to the conflict and communities to choose "restraint over retaliation, dialogue over confrontation, and reconciliation over revenge."

"We have endured decades of conflict," they said, adding that South Sudanese "deserve to live without fear of being killed on the roads, displaced from our homes, abducted from our communities, or caught between armed forces and armed youth."

This year, South Sudan has reportedly experienced renewed fighting between government forces and armed opposition groups, alongside intercommunal violence and the mobilization of armed youth. In parts of Jonglei and Upper Nile, insecurity has driven displacement and disrupted humanitarian operations.

In June, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that months of fighting in eastern Jonglei had forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

In an April report, UNICEF said more than 330,000 people had been displaced by ongoing fighting and airstrikes as of March, the vast majority of them women and children. Displacement was also spreading into neighboring Lakes and Upper Nile states, placing pressure on communities and basic services.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan documented 206 incidents of conflict-related violence affecting 1,388 civilians between January and March.

According to its June 30 press release, 767 civilians were killed, 457 injured, 93 abducted, and 71 subjected to conflict-related sexual violence.

In their Oct. 5 statement, South Sudan church leaders highlighted killings, abductions, and displacement across several parts of the country, saying unsafe roads and restricted humanitarian access were worsening conditions for affected communities.

In Upper Nile State, they identified Nasir and Ulang counties as areas where renewed armed confrontations and the mobilization of armed youth had caused deaths, displacement, and disruption of humanitarian access.

They also reported civilian deaths and displacement linked to fighting, intercommunal violence, and the mobilization of armed youth in Nyirol, Uror, Ayod, Akobo, Twic East, and Duk in Jonglei state, as well as in the Pibor Administrative Area.

The leaders raised concern about insecurity around Bentiu in Unity state and in the Ruweng Administrative Area, citing its effects on displaced and vulnerable communities. They also highlighted intercommunal and revenge-related violence in Tonj North and Gogrial East in Warrap state, and in the Abyei Administrative Area.

In the Equatoria region, they said insecurity and attacks along the Juba-Mundri, Juba-Torit, and Juba-Bor roads were threatening civilians and humanitarian operations.

Parts of Yei River County and communities in Western and Eastern Equatoria "continue to experience the effects of armed insecurity, confrontations, and displacement," they added.

The Christian leaders urged South Sudanese to reject hatred, retaliation, and violence, and to work together for peace, reconciliation, and the protection of their shared destiny.

They prayed that God would "heal our wounded nation" and grant wisdom to its leaders, expressing hope that every community in South Sudan could live "in peace and dignity."

This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

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VATICAN CITY — "Being a Christian ... is a life in union with Christ," and true evangelization stems directly from this spiritual bond, Pope Leo XIV said in a special message for the 100th anniversary of World Mission Day, Oct. 18.

"The more united we are in Christ, the better able we will be to carry out together the mission that he entrusts to us," the pope wrote. "This spirituality constitutes the daily expression of missionary discipleship."

Leo himself served for years in Peru as an Augustinian missionary priest and bishop, and has often called on Catholics "to proclaim the Gospel without fear, to be missionaries."

Pope Pius XI established World Mission Day in 1926, following the publication of his landmark encyclical Rerum Ecclesiae, which promoted the idea that supporting missions was the responsibility of all Catholics.

The centennial observance will be marked by Masses all over the world, with the pontiff celebrating the canonization of seven blesseds on Oct. 19 in St. Peter's Basilica.

In his message, the pope highlighted historical figures of faith, including Blessed Pauline Marie Jaricot, who established the Association of the Living Rosary 200 years ago to mobilize prayer and support for missionaries.

The pope urged the faithful to draw inspiration from the zeal of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Until death and beyond, she declared that she would continue her mission: "I shall desire in heaven the same thing as I do now on earth: to love Jesus and to make him loved."

"If unity is the condition of mission, love is its essence," the pope wrote. "Let us commit to contributing to the great mission of evangelization — which is a work of love."

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Religious liberty scholars at the University of Notre Dame are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a Texas law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law in June 2025. The measure ordered that a "durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments" be hung in each Texas public elementary or secondary school classroom.

The law has been subject to legal challenges since its passage. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery blocked the law in August 2025, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld the law, finding that it does not violate the First Amendment.

In an amicus filing on Sept. 28, scholars with the Lindsay & Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic at the Notre Dame Law School urged the Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing that the high court can provide "urgently needed guidance" regarding the extent of the establishment clause in the First Amendment.

The Texas law "forces state-sponsored religious instruction on children" and "strikes at the heart of the Constitution's protections" while going against Supreme Court precedent, the filing says.

The appeals court ruling "misstates the history underpinning the First Amendment, defies [Supreme Court] cases, and imperils religious freedom," the brief argues.

The placement of the Ten Commandments per the state's rule "guarantees" that students will be effectively coerced into religious instruction, it says.

The purpose of the law is to "teach government-approved religious truth," the scholars say, in violation of the Constitution and U.S. precedent.

The Supreme Court has ruled on public displays of the Ten Commandments in multiple cases. In 2005 it held that a display at the Texas Capitol was constitutional, though in the same year it struck down Ten Commandments displays at multiple Kentucky courthouses.

In 2024, meanwhile, a federal judge blocked a Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later reversed the ruling, finding that Supreme Court precedent left the constitutional question unresolved.

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Every year, Catholics are invited to pray for those struggling with mental health and reflect on how to better engage the issue, which affects many people around the world, on Mental Health Sunday, which falls on Oct. 11 this year.

Mental Health Sunday is part of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops' (USCCB) National Catholic Mental Health Campaign, a year-round initiative of the U.S. bishops that encourages the faithful to respond and bring awareness to the growing mental health crisis in the country.

While the campaign is a year-round initiative, a special emphasis is placed on the issue Oct. 10–18. During that week, the Novena for Mental Health is prayed. The novena begins on World Mental Health Day (Oct. 10), includes Mental Health Sunday — which takes place on the Sunday that falls within the time frame of the Novena for Mental Health — and ends on the feast of St. Luke (Oct. 18), the patron saint of healthcare.

The novena includes themes related to mental health to reflect on and uses a pray, learn, act structure, which means that each day includes a prayer, a section where participants can learn about mental health issues and about those suffering, and a call to action where participants are encouraged to get involved or do more to spread awareness.

The petitions in the novena include praying for the removal of stigma, the mental health ministry, families, youth and young adults, childhood, the effects of racial discrimination, poverty, suicide awareness, and grief.

In preparation for Mental Health Sunday, parishes and dioceses are being encouraged to launch a mental health resource or provide resources in the narthex after Masses, take part in the novena as a parish community, invite parishioners to bring their petitions about mental health issues to pray as a community, include mental health issues during the Prayer of the Faithful at all Masses, or offer a blessing for those who work in mental health ministries.

The Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, is answering this call through the launch of its Mental Health Ministry, which will be introduced to the diocesan community on Oct. 10. Bishop Earl Fernandes will celebrate Mass at the St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus and will recognize individuals with mental health challenges, caregivers, and mental health professionals.

Pope Leo XIV also called upon the faithful to join in prayer during the month of October for mental health ministry.

"Melancholy, bad character, confusion of senses — today, we understand that behind these old labels lies a deep, silent suffering not only of those affected by mental disorders but also of their loved ones and their communities," Pope Leo said in a video released Oct. 1 on X.

He added: "We live in a world full of tensions, and even as solutions grow so does the number of people in crisis. This October, let us pray for the mental health ministry — an urgent and ever-more-needed service in our Church and in the world."

In the full video shared on the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network website, Pope Leo recited an original prayer written specifically for this month's prayer intention. The prayer can be found here.

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As the 2026 midterm elections approach, people of various faiths are training to serve their communities as poll chaplains — an unofficial role that seeks to offer a peaceful presence at voting locations to ease tensions and ensure every person's voting rights are respected.

Poll chaplains, sometimes called peacekeepers, volunteer outside of polling locations to help provide nonpartisan election information to voters, seek to mediate tensions that arise, and peacefully intervene and document attempts to intimidate voters or infringe on voting rights.

Even though a poll chaplain is not an official Church or government position, Detroit Archbishop Edward Weisenburger said during a virtual conference in late September that Catholics should be proactive in the democratic process, which includes the protection of voting rights with the help of nonpartisan poll watchers and poll chaplains.

We are in an especially fraught and significant moment in our nation's history, with active, and, at times, successful attempts to gerrymander the vote or suppress turnout in areas that might not be favorable to a preferred candidate."

Archbishop Edward Weisenburger

Archdiocese of Detroit

"We are in an especially fraught and significant moment in our nation's history, with active, and, at times, successful attempts to gerrymander the vote or suppress turnout in areas that might not be favorable to a preferred candidate," Weisenburger said.

"The Church is well within its theological mandate to be an instrument of activity, seeking out voters and registering them to vote, especially in areas that are being targeted for voter suppression or where tactics of intimidation might be used to discourage voting," Weisenburger said at the Participation, Dignity, and Elections conference on Sept. 16.

"Inviting and training people to be nonpartisan poll watchers or poll chaplains, and to stand firm in the face of intimidation [is also part of that mandate]," the archbishop said.

The conference, organized by Catholics in Communion, included panels about voter support, electoral participation, political polarization, and the Church's relationship to democracy, along with other subjects related to elections.

"Democracy can be a vehicle for God's care for the human family, but it requires a state that understands its limitations and is not overreaching in its responsibility to create public good order," Weisenburger said.

"It requires citizens and freely created associations and groups to recognize the responsibilities and duties that flow from freedom," he said. "It requires a Church that is willing to boldly proclaim the Gospel and apply that Gospel to the task of building a just and thriving society."

"May we all embrace that responsibility so that our Democratic Republic of the United States can be such an instrument of God's care for us all," the archbishop said.

Poll chaplains train for midterms

Various organizations have been recruiting and training people to serve as poll chaplains for the 2026 midterm elections. It is a role that has developed within faith communities in the past few election cycles.

The Rev. Jim Wallis, an evangelical preacher who directs Georgetown University's Center on Faith and Justice, told EWTN News that the center has trained more than 1,000 of numerous faith backgrounds to serve as poll chaplains for the November elections through the coalition Faiths United to Save Democracy. The last scheduled training is on Oct. 15.

"This isn't political or partisan for us," he said. "It's really theological."

Wallis, who works to articulate the moral and theological framing for why poll chaplains go to voting locations, said the mission is rooted in Genesis 1:26, when God says, "Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness," which expresses the inviolable dignity of every person.

"This foundational biblical teaching about the dignity of every human being made in the image of God is fundamental to all of our human rights, civil rights, and voting rights," he said. "... To suppress a vote is to assault the image of God."

Wallis said the center trains people of all faiths and participants include Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists. He said they have trained a "good mix" of laypeople and clergy, which include Catholic priests. Clergy are encouraged to wear religious garb.

Apart from the usual de-escalation training, Wallis expressed concerns about what he called "threats" from President Donald Trump's administration to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the National Guard to polling locations.

"Polling places have lots of people," he said. "There's partisan actors, there's poll workers. The administration has suggested there be people monitoring elections. … [The chaplains are] a calming presence, they're often a trusted presence and they're there to intervene if necessary if intimidation occurs."

One of the Catholic activist groups involved in recruiting poll chaplains is the Franciscan Action Network (FAN), which alone has recruited 321 volunteers, which include friars, sisters, and lay Franciscans, along with other lay Catholics and Christians.

Robert Christian, director of strategy for FAN, told EWTN News that poll chaplaincy is "deeply compatible with our mission and Franciscan values," noting that the order is "known for their commitment to peace."

"Free, fair, peaceful elections allow for the peaceful resolution of differences," Christian said.

He said "every single person has dignity" and a "right to participate economically, socially, and politically." Within FAN's network, he said there's strong care for "the integrity of elections" and volunteers "want to do their part to make sure everyone feels comfortable showing up on Election Day and [don't] have to worry about their vote being counted or being turned away."

Christian said the training focuses mostly on partisan tensions boiling over into the voting line or conflicts between poll workers and a voter. He also said talks about federal intervention, such as ICE agents stationed near voting locations, have caused people to be "nervous."

"There have been growing concerns around democratic norms and people accepting the outcome of elections," Christian said. "... It's a pretty tense atmosphere in the lead-up to the elections."

The 2026 midterm elections are less than one month away on Nov. 3. Every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection and there are 35 Senate elections. Many states have local elections and ballot referendums, and there are 36 gubernatorial elections.

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