From a message that “dread is not of God” to a “pilgrimage of hope,” several hundred Catholic sisters and guests gathered in downtown Atlanta for the annual assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, France, said his visit to the Holy Land was intended as a gesture of solidarity with the local Christian community and a demonstration of support for “all the friends of peace.”

Jesus’ love and forgiveness do not deny the truth of pain and betrayal, but they do prevent evil from having the last word, Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV asked Catholics to observe Aug. 22 as a day of prayer and fasting for peace and justice, particularly in Ukraine and in the Holy Land.

While the act of directly causing an abortion is a canonical crime that is punished with an automatic excommunication, (see Canon 1397, 2) this only applies in scenarios where a particular individual actually brought about an abortion personally — and not in situations where a person promoted abortion in a more abstract way.