Luca Casarini, a longtime and well-known Italian activist, is a special guest at the assembly of the Synod of Bishops; he’s encouraged to speak, but has no vote. And he said he is learning a lot.

First-person shooter games don’t often involve fantasy. But the visually pleasing “Immortals of Aveum” (Electronic Arts) — which also boasts a talented voice cast and quickly paced action — combines these elements to good effect.

Two U.S. bishops have launched the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign, amid a global crisis in mental health and a decline in mental health resources in the U.S.

Pope Francis condemned Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel and pleaded with the militants to free their hostages unharmed, but he also expressed concern about Israel’s tightening siege on Gaza and its impact on innocent civilians.

The life of St. Josephine Bakhita, a former slave from Sudan who became a nun, demonstrates how love liberates people from oppression and frees them to forgive their oppressors and break cycles of hatred and violence, Pope Francis said.