The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, addressed the synod of bishops on the new evangelisation yesterday and had a final private audience with Benedict XVI before his retirement in December (full text). A new study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) has found that half a million unmarried American Catholics have seriously explored a vocation to the priesthood or the religious life (full study). Five SSPX priests have reportedly broken away to form a new body called the Society of St Pius X of the Strict Observance. Dr Jeff Mirus says the synod of bishops on the new evangelisation "is not optimistic about the state of the world" - and that's a good thing. George Weigel suggests the Second Vatican Council "accelerated the great historical evolution of Catholicism from a Church of institutional maintenance to a Church of evangelical mission". Andrew Brown argues that Vatican II "changed Christianity more than any event in the last 500 years". And Daniel Burke and David Gibson preview the “Catholic Thrilla in Manila”: tonight's US vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. Follow me on Twitter @lukecoppen for updates on the opening day of the Year of Faith