Pope Leo XIV welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a Vatican-Palestinian agreement recognizing the State of Palestine and guaranteeing the freedom of the Catholic Church in the territory.

Closely watched off-year elections in several states that offered the first major opportunity for voters to weigh in at the ballot box since President Donald Trump began his second term resulted in key victories for Democratic candidates and showed signs voters were motivated by cost-of-living increases, an area of Catholic social concern.

Students and faculty at St. Louis School in Clarksville burst into the school gym in waves Nov. 5, wearing blue spirit T-shirts, sunglasses and wielding pom-poms to celebrate the Howard County Catholic school’s designation as one of Maryland’s Blue Ribbon schools.

It’s important to keep in mind that the concept of “vocation” is ultimately not about sorting ourselves or others into boxes, but rather is about discerning and embracing God’s will for us in our own unique life situation — whether or not that fits tidily into one of the above-mentioned categories.

Drawing from their own experiences, the homeschooling families who spoke with OSV News agreed that homeschooling cultivates priestly vocations.