The pope spoke about how the groups associated with the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation in the United States take issues patiently, “atom by atom,” and end up building something that “penetrates” and changes entire communities.

The Norbertines — one of the oldest surviving religious orders in the Catholic Church, established in France in 1120 — are not only, in the words of their founder St. Norbert of Xanten, “prepared for every good work.”

Through Catholic Social Services, Mary Fuller was eventually adopted by Elizabeth and Leo Kraus, grew up alongside her three siblings in Our Lady of All Saints Parish in Fraser, a northern suburb of Detroit, and lived a prosperous life centered on family and the Catholic faith.

The Vatican is asking all baptized people, regardless of whether they will be in Rome, to participate in October’s assembly of the Synod of Bishops with their prayers.

As authorities in Libya announced a three-day mourning period following a deadly flood disaster, a Catholic bishop in the North African country expressed the church’s closeness to the people, many of whom are injured, missing or trapped by the storm waters.