Getting to be a ripe old age is a privilege, Pope Francis told older priests. If facing an illness, that too, becomes a privilege in that one resembles Jesus, “who suffers, and one carries the cross, just like him,” he said in a written letter. “Pray for me as I am a little old and a little sick, but not a lot!” he added. The letter was read aloud to priests from the northern Italian region of Lombardy taking part in a “Day of Fraternity” Sept. 16 with their bishops in the town of Caravaggio.

A Family Where Faith Inspired Six Sisters to Religious Life
In the mist-covered hills of Venappara in Kerala, the Kallidukkil family became a remarkable witness to faith and vocation. Thomas and Thresiamma Kallidukkil raised their


