NATION
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Catholic education leaders are applauding proposed regulations for the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, which incentivizes private contributions to K-12 scholarships benefiting students in public, charter or private schools, including religious. On Oct. 1, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS jointly announced the proposed regulations for the program, also known as the Education Freedom Tax Credit, which was enacted in 2025 and is set to launch Jan. 1. The “transformative” tax credit “will create opportunities for families to access much-needed resources to expand their options for choosing the best tools and learning environment for their children,” said Bishop David M. O’Connell of Trenton, New Jersey, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education, in an Oct. 2 statement. The Oct. 1 announcement “provides additional clarity for states, donors, and scholarship-granting organizations,” said Steven F. Cheeseman, president and CEO of the National Catholic Educational Association, in an Oct. 1 statement. Cheeseman highlighted the announcement’s confirmation that married couples filing jointly will be able to claim up to $3,400 in tax credit for eligible contributions, “rather than the previously understood $1,700 household limit.” With 30 states signed up, Cheeseman urged state governors to opt in quickly, saying, “The tax credit doesn’t stop at state lines, but the scholarships do.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The 2027 National March for Life theme is “The Truth is Pro-Life,” the March for Life Education and Defense Fund announced Sept. 29. Hayden Sledge, chief of staff at March for Life, told reporters that “the soil is prime for us to make the case for the truth, for life.” “Every January, people of different ages, backgrounds, faiths, and life experiences come together in Washington around one shared truth that every human life has worth,” she said. During the second Trump administration, President Trump has delivered video messages to the rally, while Vice President Vance has made in-person remarks. The 2027 event will take place while the pro-life movement faces several key challenges, such as preserving the Hyde Amendment, the recent approval of a new generic abortion drug, a policy permitting the distribution of that drug by mail and a rising abortion rate.
VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (Vatican News) – The Vatican will publish the private diary of Pope Francis, offering readers a new window into the late pope’s inner life. The Vatican announced Oct. 5 that “The Private Diary of Pope Francis” will feature notes Pope Francis kept from 1992 to 2024. The book is written by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, who presents and comments on Pope Francis’ writings. The book will be released Nov. 24 in five languages and distributed in 94 countries. The Vatican Publishing House will publish the Italian edition, with Penguin Random House handling the Spanish, English and Portuguese editions. Éditions Albin Michel will publish the French edition. Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, said the diary will allow readers to gain “an even deeper understanding” of the Argentine pope’s inner life. The Vatican Publishing House plans to present the book to international publishers at the Frankfurt Book Fair, taking place Oct. 7 through 11. Pope Francis’ notes span more than three decades, including his years as a bishop in Argentina and his 12-year pontificate.
VATICAN CITY (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV has opened a Vatican meeting of bishops from around the world focused on the challenges facing marriage and family life today. Catholic bishops’ conference presidents and heads of the Eastern Catholic churches gathered Oct. 7 for the opening session of the closed-door summit, marking the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”). Pope Leo told participants that the “beauty and fragility of families” would be at the heart of their discussions. He pointed to a growing distance between how sexuality and intimacy are lived and the Christian understanding of marriage. The pope said young people still desire love, fidelity and belonging, even as many struggle to see lifelong commitment as the path toward those hopes. He urged bishops to consider what kind of Church people encounter when their families experience wounds, loneliness or apparent failure, emphasizing the need for grace, forgiveness and new beginnings. The Oct. 7-14 meeting will include testimony from families from five continents. Bishops will discuss marriage, family challenges and pastoral accompaniment before publishing a final synthesis document Oct. 14.

WORLD
ASSISI, Italy (OSV News) – Church bells rang across Assisi at midnight Oct. 4, marking 800 years since the death of St. Francis of Assisi. The feast day celebrations began on Oct. 3 with a night procession and a solemn commemoration of the “Transitus” (“passage”), the traditional Franciscan prayer service in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels marking St. Francis’ transition into eternal life. The basilica houses the chapel where St. Francis died on the night of Oct. 3, 1226. About 3,000 people took part in the procession on the eve of the beloved saint’s feast day, singing hymns and prayers as they retraced the route made by St. Francis of Assisi’s coffin 1226, walking about 2 miles uphill from the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels to the Basilica of St. Francis where he is currently buried. At a midnight Mass, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime reflected on Francis’ radical poverty, saying that in the end, “Love will remain. Christ will remain.” The following morning, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi celebrated Mass with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in attendance. Cardinal Zuppi urged Christians to follow Francis as peacemakers by disarming “our hands and our hearts.” Mattarella also invoked St. Francis amid today’s wars, expressing hope that his example would help convert hearts hardened by hatred and point humanity toward peace. The Franciscan Jubilee Year continues through Jan. 10, 2027.
WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) – Two days after surviving a knife attack that killed a fellow priest, Father Adrian Mantykiewicz returned to the altar at the Benedictine sisters’ abbey in Jaroslaw, Poland, with a message centered on forgiveness. Celebrating the abbey’s first Mass since the Sept. 24 attack, in which five people were stabbed, Father Mantykiewicz said: “As a disciple of Jesus Christ, in my own name, in Father Marek’s name and in Father Stanislaw’s name, I want to say very clearly that we forgive.” Father Stanislaw Zbojniewicz died of his injuries, while Father Marek Pienkowski remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition. Father Mantykiewicz, who was treated and released the same day, urged prayers for the suspect, a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen. “I ask you to pray for our attacker and for the grace of conversion for him,” he said. “He needs this prayer most of all.” Warning against blaming an entire people for one man’s actions, Father Mantykiewicz appealed for respect and solidarity between Poles and Ukrainians, recalling the abbey’s support for refugees following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Prosecutors have filed murder, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm charges against the suspect, identified as Ihor M.