When St. John Henry Newman is proclaimed a doctor of the church on Nov. 1, staff and students at his old university will be counting on a boost of confidence for Oxford’s once-excluded Catholics.

Pope Leo XIV’s recognition of St. John Henry Newman as a “doctor of the church” will be an ecumenical celebration, a sign of esteem for the excellence and ongoing relevance of his teaching, first as an Anglican and then as a Roman Catholic, said a key figure in preparing the declaration.

The Trump administration indicated it would restrict the number of refugees it admits annually into the country to 7,500, with most of that number to be white South Africans.

Kierre Williams entered the plea Oct. 28 in Washington County, Nebraska, District Court, admitting to first-degree murder in the 2023 stabbing death of Father Stephen Gutgsell.

With funding for SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a major part of the nation’s social safety net — scheduled to lapse Nov. 1 due to the federal government shutdown, that need could stretch many hunger relief ministries, and those they serve, to the limit.