Catholic News Digest – October 10, 2026

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as dean of the College of Cardinals, succeeding Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Tagle, a Filipino cardinal who leads the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, took up the role on Oct. 9. The dean presides over the College of Cardinals and has a prominent part in the arrangements surrounding a papal conclave. The appointment gives Tagle a more central place in the college’s work, though the dean’s office does not itself determine who may be elected pope.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said the planned livestream of the execution of Nidal Hasan in the United States would turn death into a spectacle, which he called unacceptable. The U.S. bishops also condemned the Pentagon announcement. Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he had learned of the decision with “shock and great sorrow.” Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting, is to be executed by firing squad. Religious and political leaders have objected to the plan.

The Vatican is hosting an international meeting on family life and marriage, marking 10 years since Pope Francis issued Amoris laetitia. The gathering, which continues through Oct. 14, brings together presidents of bishops’ conferences and representatives of Eastern Churches. Participants are examining why fewer young people are choosing marriage, including Catholic marriage, and how changes in attitudes toward sexuality, divorce and economic security shape family life. Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth has spoken about relationships with young people and the Church’s vision of family.

At a Rome conference, cardinals and theologians considered the history, doctrine and devotion surrounding Mary’s title “Co-Redemptrix.” The meeting comes nearly a year after the Vatican described the title as inopportune for official use. The term has been used by some Catholics to express Mary’s unique participation in Christ’s work of redemption, while Church teaching holds that Christ alone is the Redeemer. The conference included adoration, the Rosary and Benediction, placing its theological discussion within a setting of Marian prayer.

In the United States, the State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report warned that industrial-scale online scam operations are using human trafficking for profit and pose a national security threat. Released Oct. 8, more than three months after the statutory June 30 deadline, the report described criminal organizations and repressive governments as adapting trafficking to new forms of exploitation. Transnational crime groups, many long based in Southeast Asia and run by Chinese nationals, have expanded into Africa and the Middle East. The report links forced labor in scam centers to wider organized criminal activity.

Father Eduardo Chávez, a theologian and expert on Our Lady of Guadalupe, has been named the representative of the Archdiocese of Mexico for preparations for the 500th anniversary of the apparitions, to be celebrated in 2031. Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes made the appointment in a letter dated Sept. 22. Chávez is the magisterial Guadalupan theologian of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. His role will include representing the archdiocese in matters concerning the content of the celebrations.

The U.S. bishops’ conference named Ursula Murua the next president of EWTN News, effective Nov. 1. A Peruvian-born Catholic journalist with more than three decades of experience, Murua currently directs digital strategy and social media for EWTN News. She will succeed Montse Alvarado, whom Pope Leo appointed in June as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication. Alvarado has led EWTN News since 2023 and is preparing to take up her Vatican post.

Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, a practicing Catholic, died Friday at 86. Known as “Iron Mike” for his forceful manner, he led the Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX in 1986. EWTN News reported that Ditka occasionally served as a lector at the team’s 7 a.m. Mass on game-day Sundays during his decade as coach. The National Catholic Register also reported that he gave to charities and belonged to the Knights of Columbus. His public life was marked by a demanding coaching style; his faith and service were part of his life beyond the football field.

May those grieving Ditka, those harmed by trafficking and violence, and families facing uncertainty find care and companionship in their communities. The Church’s call to defend human dignity is carried out in practical acts of prayer, protection and support.