Ecuador

In 2019, Pope Francis invited young economists, entrepreneurs and "change-makers" to gather in Assisi to share ideas for making the global economy more responsive to the needs of the poor and of the planet.

Polish Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz, retired archbishop of Wroclaw, died Nov. 16, just 10 days after the publication of Vatican disciplinary measures against him related to sexual abuse.

Lebanon's "political authority has murdered its people," Cardinal Bechara Rai, Maronite patriarch, said at the closing Mass of the synod of Maronite Catholic bishops from around the world.

Thousands of people are once again leaving Venezuela as neighboring countries like Colombia, Ecuador and Peru reopen their economies and lift restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. The poorest are leaving on foot, and joining 5 million people who have already left Venezuela to escape hyperinflation, food shortages and the lowest wages in the Western Hemisphere.

COVID-19 has made the "cry of the Amazon" clearer, even as it has drastically altered post-synod activities. Some meetings have happened virtually — not the same as in person, but the process is slowly advancing.

Church leaders sent a strong message of support to an unprecedented virtual assembly of more than 3,000 indigenous leaders, small farmers, environmental campaigners and women from the nine countries of the Amazon region seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Catholic leaders warn that as the coronavirus pandemic spreads into the Amazon basin, the region may face a "humanitarian and environmental tragedy."

Hospitals and funeral homes in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, are overwhelmed by the rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, said Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera.