Author Rebecca W. Martin has debuted her first novel, “Love in the Eternal City” (Chrism Press), a Catholic romance that not only tells the love story between a Swiss Guard and an American expat, but also serves as Martin’s own love letter to the city of Rome.

Decades of conflict ahead of independence in 2011, followed by civil war and famine, has taken its toll on South Sudan’s education and health systems.

During a September visit to Ukraine, OSV News sat down with Bishop Stepan Meniok, a Redemptorist and bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s Donetsk Exarchate.

A consecrated virgin in Ukraine told OSV News she is grateful for her vocation, which enables her to “give all, day and night,” to those impoverished by Russia’s decade-long war against her nation.

Asked what a U.S. Catholic given a choice between voting for a person who supports abortion or one who supports closing borders and deporting migrants, Pope Francis said one must choose “the lesser evil.”