Excited banter filled the hallways of St. Philip Neri School in Linthicum Aug. 28 as students caught up with friends they hadn’t seen since the end of the last school year and met new teachers on the first day of school in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Although Russia’s continuing war on Ukraine may make peace seem an impossible dream, Pope Francis urged young Russian Catholics to sow seeds of reconciliation and peace however they can.

Pope Francis prayed that God would raise up a new generation of “well-educated and faithful Catholics leaders committed to promoting the church’s social and ethical teachings” through public service, especially in politics.

If Jesus were just a great teacher or prophet or even hero from the past, imitating him and following him on the path to holiness would be impossible, Pope Francis said.

In the spot where his brother priests were arrested 60 years earlier for helping to desegregate a Baltimore County amusement park, Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., offered a prayer to heal racial divisions Aug. 27.