On November 2, the Supreme Court hears arguments about race and juror selection in a Georgia death penalty case in which an African-American man was tried, convicted, and sentenced to die by an all-white jury.

It is the season in Western Christianity of celebrating saints and commemorating the faithful who have departed this life.

The 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions, the largest interfaith gathering in the world, was held in Salt Lake City. This year’s gathering focused on women in leadership, peace, and climate change. Imam Malik Mujahid, who chairs the Parliament’s board of trustees, described the event and why he believes it is important for people of faith to gather in solidarity.

Under the leadership of President Michael Crow, Arizona State University is encouraging more students to get college degrees by preparing students for higher education as early as pre-school, and by making college more affordable. Crow hopes more schools across the country follow ASU's example.

Record numbers of Syrian, Iraqi, and North African migrants have been flooding into Europe, generating a massive humanitarian crisis. Host Bob Abernethy and managing editor Kim Lawton talk with Sean Callahan, chief operating officer of Catholic Relief Services, about how faith-based groups are trying help the refugees and what the US can do to address the crisis.

Throughout the U.S. there is a dramatic shortage of people willing to give up one of their organs to save a stranger’s life. It’s a difficult problem for the many patients needing a new kidney. One solution, as the Orthodox Jewish charity called Renewal has found, is to connect organ donors with sick patients within their own faith communities, which encourages more people to donate.

Buddhism became a sanctuary for Dr. Barry Kerzin and led to his ordination as a monk. Now he serves as the Dalai Lama’s personal physician and combines his medical wisdom with love and compassion that translate into empathy.

A growing new spiritual practice combines the breathing techniques of yoga with laughter. Practitioners say it helps them achieve joy and spiritual well-being. At a Laughter Yoga session at Washington National Cathedral, we talk with instructor Diane Cohen, who says Laughter Yoga releases “that inner essence that we don’t always let out.”

The pope has returned to Rome after his historic trip to the United States, but the message and meaning of his words and actions are still being debated. We are joined by John Carr, director of Georgetown University's Initiative on Catholic Social Thought, and Pat Zapor, who covered the pope's trip for Catholic News Service, about what the impact of his message may be.

American Catholics, says Rev. Thomas Reese of National Catholic Reporter, live out their faith in the local parish, and "they want to meet somebody like Pope Francis. And if the clergy and the bishops and the people aren’t like Pope Francis, or namely like Jesus, more welcoming, compassionate, loving, they’re going to turn around and never come back."

The Roman Catholic Church’s understanding of the permanent nature of marriage “is really meant to be a countercultural position,” says Professor Susan Ross of Loyola University’s theology department. “The Church’s challenge is to find a way to hold marriage as this sacred bond, while recognizing the very human situation in which it falls apart.”

The Catholic Church's stand on marriage, divorce, and contraceptives can seem out of step with the modern world—even to Catholics. Those who want to see reforms, such as making the process for obtaining an annulment easier, have been encouraged by recent statements of Pope Francis. But unhappy Catholics are still leaving the Church, and bishops will have to decide at a meeting in Rome next month o

Watch more of our interview with Father James Halstead, who teaches a course on marriage at DePaul University in Chicago.

Pope Francis arrives in the U.S. on Tuesday, September 22nd, for five busy days in Washington, New York and Philadelphia. Managing editor Kim Lawton asks American Catholics about the beliefs that shape the Pope's view of the world, and Stephen Schneck and Tom Roberts joins host Bob Abernethy in the studio for a conversation about their expectations for the Pope's trip.