Situated on more than 18 acres along York Road, the retreat house is host to more than 5,000 guests a year. It can accommodate 101 overnight guests and a 100,000-gallon pool, but most vitally, a Catholic chapel and numerous other spaces for prayer and reflection.

On Oct. 13, the second day of confirmation hearings on her Supreme Court nomination, Judge Amy Coney Barrett made a clear distinction between policy preferences and legal precedents in responding to questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In the run-up to next year’s 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri, Pope Francis said he hoped people would read the Italian poet’s work, especially the “Divine Comedy,” which still resonates today.

“Thank you for your witness,” Pope Francis told retired Australian Cardinal George Pell as the two sat down for a private meeting Oct. 12, six months after the High Court of Australia overturned the cardinal’s conviction on sex abuse charges.

In an act of solidarity with the 350 parishioners of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Pearl River, a visibly upset New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond celebrated Mass Oct. 10 for a second consecutive week for the parish and reconsecrated its church and its new altar.