Pope Leo tackled numerous themes on Thursday, 11 September, during a question-and-answer session at the conclusion of his audience with newly appointed bishops in the Synod Hall at the Vatican. According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, Pope Leo continued his reflection on “the challenges and issues” new bishops “face at the beginning of a new ministry, such as fears, feelings of unworthiness, and the different expectations each had for their lives before their calling.”

The assassination of Charlie Kirk is a sobering moment for anyone who believes in the power of dialogue, public engagement, and leadership—regardless of political affiliation. As a leadership coach, I view this not through the lens of ideology, but through the lens of human dignity, civic responsibility, and the culture we shape through our words and actions.

“Why should I not be able to eliminate my ten-month-old baby?” Charlie Kirk invited an obnoxious, narcissistic young college student to give her best effort at making her “pro-choice” arguments. He was respectful. She was not. He was convicted about protecting the weak, unborn child, and tried to draw out of the girl why he didn’t have the right to kill a born child if she could kill her unborn child. She ignored him and said she had another question to ask instead of responding to his respectful response to her.

Charlie Kirk is dead. I know you know that. But stop scrolling and clicking and arguing for a few minutes and think about it. If you pray, pray. Really, truly pray. If you are Catholic, get yourself in front of the Blessed Sacrament. (If you are not Catholic, feel free to, too.) There is no more powerful Presence on this earth. Acknowledge that. Acknowledge Him. If you don’t pray, just think about the fact Charlie Kirk died because he was speaking.

On Sept. 10, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot and killed during a speaking event in Utah. He leaves behind a wife and two very young children. Assassination is a tragedy for our country and for humanity. In this case it raises the flame beneath a pot that had already been simmering and is now dangerously close to boiling over. We must pray for peace, and for a reckoning that rids us of senseless violence once and for all.

In 1965, the folks at one federal agency had an ambitious goal. They wanted to create something that was well ahead of its time: a music video. The agency was the Office of Economic Opportunity, part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. The OEO helped co-produce a 90-minute TV special with CBS, urging American teenagers to find summer jobs and stay educated. But the video also showcased some of the era’s biggest stars, including Ray Charles, Tom Jones and the Supremes.

Way back in olden times, when I was still a professor of theology, one of the most ubiquitous attitudes amongst the students was that it does not matter which religion one practiced since “all religions are really saying the same thing in their essence”.Indeed, in this view, it does not even matter if one practices a religion at all since it is possible to be a “good person” and to be “spiritual” without any religious affiliation. Furthermore, such views are expressed with extreme confidence, as if there is no need to offer arguments for them since their reasonableness is beyond dispute.

After sobering news about political violence in America, this Sunday, Sept. 14, is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Just as it did after Sept. 11, 2001, the Church offers the hard hope of the cross after tragedy. It is crucial in times like this to understand the glory of the cross — a glory which never takes away sadness, but answers pain with love. Here are five takeaways drawn from Sunday Readings columns at this site and the Extraordinary Story podcast.

Conservative political activist and author Charlie Kirk has died after being shot on stage during an event at Utah Valley University. He was going back and forth with a student about mass shootings involving transgender people when he was shot, according to videos of the attack.

Pope Leo XVI asked for the Church to respond to the Artificial Intelligence revolution, so Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, has created the Center for Technology and Human Dignity, promoting Catholic digital and biomedical ethics. The director for the center is Mariele Courtois, a Benedictine College theologian, bioethicist, and a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education’s research group on artificial intelligence.