Amid policy changes governing their use, and as research suggests promising new uses for messenger RNA, or mRNA, vaccine technology, COVID-19 vaccines have become available ahead of cold and flu season.

George Weigel’s talk followed the annual White Mass, celebrated by Archbishop William E. Lori at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. More than 440 people, including doctors, nurses, medical students and other professionals, attended the liturgy, many wearing their white coats.

All Saints is a churchwide holy day of obligation and normally celebrated on Nov. 1. If the first day of November falls on a Saturday or Monday, at least in the United States, the obligation to attend Mass is abrogated. All Souls’ Day takes place on Nov. 2, unless it falls on a Sunday, then the celebration is held Nov. 3.

Rather than educating students to “become experts in infinitesimal details of reality,” Pope Leo XIV said, Catholic universities must help them have a broader vision, one that holds together faith, spirituality and knowledge of the world.

The 66 million people who live in the rural areas of the United States are facing the emergence of a new kind of Rust Belt, with its accompanying lack of jobs and services.