Pope Francis presides over the canonizations of Cardinal John Henry Newman, Sister Mariam Thresia, Sister Giuseppina Vannini, Sister Dulce Lopes Pontes, and Marguerite Bays. In his homily, the Pope reflects on the Gospel account of the lepers, and on the verbs “to cry out, to walk, to give thanks”.

On Oct. 18, children around the world will pray for peace and unity in the world. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is calling on children worldwide to take part in the joint campaign “One Million Children Praying the Rosary.” As Pope Francis has designated the month of October as the Extraordinary Missionary Month, this year’s theme is: Mission.

Responding to Pope Francis’s call, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees was held on September 29. The Universal Church was invited on that day, under the theme “Not just about migrants,” to become aware of the various issues surrounding the situation of migrants and refugees in the world.

On Oct. 1, the Diocese of Montreal sponsored a training day to examine Christus Vivit. Organized by Pascale Haddad, Director of the Office for Faith Education, the session introduced parish catechists to Pope Francis’s 2018 post-synodal apostolic exhortation on youth, published in 2018.

On Oct. 5, in Rome, 13 prelates were made cardinals by Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica. Among them was Canadian Jesuit Fr. Michael Czerny.