A Catholic school educator in New Jersey has been pulled from her classroom, after she advised a school official her pregnancy was a surrogacy — a practice gravely contrary to Church teaching — while the church engages her in a pastoral conversation over the matter.

Migrants and refugees often are “privileged witnesses of hope through their resilience and trust in God,” Pope Leo XIV said.

Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-life Activities, spoke with OSV News Oct. 1, the first day of Respect Life Month, about maintaining hope in a culture with a widespread disregard for human life and why abortion remains the preeminent issue in the “moral hierarchy” of life.

Founded in 1996, the PIE scholarship program, funded by corporate partnerships, foundations and individuals, has awarded 31,2000 tuition-assistance scholarships, more than $42 million in tuition aid.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has decided not to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award,” scheduled to be presented in November at the archdiocese’s “Keep Hope Alive” celebration, according to a statement by Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich Sept. 30.