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Hello, I'm Maggie Murray of OSV News, and this is your OSV Newscast for Thursday, October 8th, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic News of the Day. Here we go. Forty years after St. John Paul II gathered the world's religious leaders in Assisi to pray for peace. Pope Leo XIV is preparing to return to the city to close this year's anniversary meeting. The Pope will travel to Assisi October 27th for the final day of the 2026 Interreligious Gathering, which runs October 25th to 27th and marks the 40th annual meeting inspired by that historic 1986 event. Pope Leo will join the Christian community in Assisi's Lower Basilica for a special prayer service, where he and Patriarch Bartholomew will offer reflections. The meeting's theme, Disarmed and Disarming Peace, comes from the Pope's own calls for peace and disarmament. Organizers say 384 representatives from 53 countries will take part, including 155 speakers across 24 forums on topics ranging from conflict and migration to youth, media, Christian unity, and contemporary martyrs. We are truly delighted by the Holy Father's return to Assisi, said Archbishop Felice Acroca. Marco Impacliazzo of the community of Santa Gedio said today's world is very frightened, fearful, and torn apart. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is speaking out about threats he sees to the court's independence. In rare interviews coinciding with the start of the new term and the release of his first book, So Ordered, an originalist view of the Constitution, the Court, and our country, Alito voiced concern about what he called a concerted effort to intimidate the court. He pushed back on criticism from both the Biden and Trump administrations, telling CBS, I think it can be quite damaging. There's been a great change in what presidents have said about the court when they are unhappy about our decisions. Alito authored the Dobbs decision, which overturned the court's earlier abortion precedents, and said he was stunned by the May 2022 leak of the draft opinion, widely seen as the most significant breach of confidentiality in the court's history. Some conservatives have urged him to retire while Republicans control the Senate, so President Trump could name his replacement, but Alito said that would not factor into his decision. The Tenants Union of Madrid announced yesterday that Maria del Carmen Abascal, known as Mari Carmen, died after being hospitalized since September 23rd, when she was removed on a stretcher from the apartment where she had lived for more than 70 years. A real estate company had raised her rent from $560 to $1,845, about $400 above her pension. After public outrage, the company agreed to let her return, but relatives said the solution came too late. Her case sparked nationwide protests. On September 28th, Pope Leo asked, What is wrong with the system that allows an elderly woman who is also disabled or facing some difficulty to be evicted from her home? The church, he said, speaks of discarding the weak and justice and seeks to awaken a deeper sense of humanity. Catholics in Kenya's Archdiocese of Mombasa gathered today to mourn 17 parishioners killed in a road accident while traveling to the country's National Prayer Day. Family, friends, and fellow worshippers filled St. Matthias Mulumba Church in Mikidani to remember the victims: 14 women, two men, and their driver. They were pilgrims headed to the Sabukia National Marian Shrine in Nakuru when a truck reportedly lost control on the Mombasa Nairobi Highway, triggering a multi-vehicle crash that killed 20 people overall. Today we mourn our fellow brothers and sisters, but we are not mourning without hope, co-ajudor Archbishop Dominic Kimengich said in his homily. They were part of our family, they were part of our parish. At the National Prayer Day, Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba, president of the Kenyan Bishops Conference, offered condolences and led prayers for the dead. Kenya's president William Ruto also expressed sympathy, and the parish held a candlelight vigil the night before. The Pontifical Swiss Guard is preparing a year of commemorations in 2027 for one of the most defining moments in its history. On May 6, 1527, 147 guards died defending Pope Clement VII during the sack of Rome, fighting to protect St. Peter's Basilica and escorting the Pope to safety and Castel Sant'Angelo. The anniversary year opens January 23rd with a history conference in Brig, Switzerland, and will include the guards' participation in Zurich's Spring Festival and a September pilgrimage to Isendelm. The main commemorations take place at the Vatican May 5th to 7th, featuring Vespers, Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, a new memorial plaque, the swearing in of new guards, and a light art projection. Colonel Christoph Groff, the card's commander, said the commemorative year recalls the willingness to sacrifice and marks the loyalty of our predecessors. He added that the values of that time still shape the guardsman's mission in service to the Pope. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Maggie Murray of OSV News. Check out the show notes for direct links to the stories in this episode. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast, follow us on social media, and bookmark osvnews.com. Thanks so much for listening and God bless. This has been an OSV News production. To learn more, visit osvnews.com.