October 18, 2023

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - Officials linked to Hamas claimed that an Israeli airstrike killed hundreds of people at a Palestinian hospital on Tuesday, while the Israeli government said a terrorist group was responsible for the destruction. The actual origin of the missile strike was unclear as of late Tuesday afternoon. The Palestinians “are falsely claiming Israel targeted a hospital in the Gaza Strip,” Israel said in a followup tweet. Reports indicated the death toll in Israel on Tuesday stood at around 1,400, while Gaza had suffered approximately 3,000 casualties since the war began earlier this month. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255719/report-israel-strike-allegedly-kills-hundreds-at-palestinian-hospital In a new interview published on October 17, Pope Francis said that he plans to visit his native Argentina, adding: “Somebody said that if I go to Argentina, I should stop at Rio Gallegos, then head to the South Pole, land in Melbourne, and visit New Zealand.” “It would be a rather long journey,” he joked. The 86-year-old pope does not currently have any international trips on his official schedule, but he recently made a 4,000-mile journey to Mongolia and visited the French city of Marseille. Pope Francis would not be the first religious leader to visit Antarctica. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill visited an Antarctic research station, and walked with penguins, in 2016 as part of a trip to Latin America, which included a historic meeting with Pope Francis in Cuba. In the interview with Argentina’s national news agency, Télam, Pope Francis also expressed an interest to visit Oceania. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255714/a-papal-visit-to-the-south-pole-pope-francis-looks-to-new-peripheries Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Luke, the physician and companion of Saint Paul whose gospel p