St. John Paul II

Subtitled “An American Lawyer and Diplomat in the Last Absolute Monarchy of the West,” Mary Ann Glendon’s new book offers keen insights into how the last three pontiffs handled the more temporal side of church affairs.

Standing before an image of the Virgin Mary, Wojtlya’s father told him, “From today on, she will be your mother.”

Sauk Centre will play host to this special evening of music, art and presentations from author and speaker Christopher West, who is president of the Theology of the Body Institute, and singer Mike Mangione.

The movie, a biopic about 20th-century Polish Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, delves into the Polish Communist Party’s yearslong operation to delegitimize him. It will have a limited run on select U.S. screens Nov. 15 and Nov. 17.

In its 30 years of operation, the foundation had distributed more than $40 million to projects in rural areas across the region.

In the spotlight: Ukraine war, papal health, St. John Paul II

“Wars are easy to get into but usually difficult to extricate from. Since the Russian invasion of Crimea and its occupation of part of eastern Ukraine, an estimated 14,000 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have died, and no end is in sight.”

Catholic bishops of England and Wales are planning a novena to St. John Paul in the nine days before second reading of an assisted suicide bill in the House of Lords, because the legislation will be considered Oct. 22, the saint’s feast day.