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February 16, 2017
The headline on the front page of the New York Times last week about Donald Trump’s key advisor was ominous: “Steve Bannon Carries Battles to Another Influential Hub: The Vatican.”
The concept of a guaranteed basic income for the poor has been around at least since St. Thomas More pondered the topic 500 years ago in the court of Henry VIII. Napoleon apparently liked the idea. U.S. founding father Thomas Paine was an active proponent after the American Revolution. Even disgraced president Richard Nixon floated its potential as a means to tackle poverty.
For Thomas Lindale, going on a mission trip to India with Free the Children (now WE Charity) was really about being God’s light in the world.
Humanitarian aid workers in Syria and Lebanon are exhausted, said Hélène Tremblay-Boyko.
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 26 (Year A) Isaiah 49:14-15; Psalm 62; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34 One of the most painful burdens for people to bear is the feeling that they are forgotten or do not matter.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, that part of the Bible we call the Old Testament, we find a strong religious challenge to always welcome the stranger, the foreigner.
VATICAN CITY – The athletes of the Special Olympics witness to the world the beauty and value of every human life and the joy that comes from reaching a goal with the encouragement and support of others, Pope Francis said.
World Relief has announced it will lay off more than 140 staff members and close five local offices as a “direct result” of President Trump’s order to more than halve the number of refugees resettled this year in the United States.
WASHINGTON – In a joint statement, Catholic bishops whose dioceses are along the U.S.-Mexico border spoke of the "pain, the fear, and the anguish" they're seeing in immigrants and vowed to follow the example of the Pope in building "bridges, rather than the walls of exclusion and exploitation."
WASHINGTON – In a Feb. 16 statement, U.S. Catholic Church leaders said they were encouraged that President Donald Trump may be considering an executive order to protect religious freedom and said they would be grateful if he would move forward with the pledge that his administration would "do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty."
February 17, 2017
Bigoted. Patriarchal. Sexist. We’ve all heard the way some people talk about the Catholic Church — in our schools, at work, in the mainstream media or on the Internet. They say it’s an ancient institution, stuck in the past, left behind by modern progress in women’s rights.
Recent developments regarding the Catholic Church in China brought to mind the Canadian visit of the Chinese Church’s most outspoken pastor in 2013.
ROME, Italy – While many in different sectors of the Church are pulling out their hair trying to resolve the Amoris Laetitia communion debate, Papua New Guinea's new cardinal said his country has a much more immediate problem.
WASHINGTON – The former U.S. religious freedom ambassador told a congressional subcommittee that leaked language of a proposed presidential executive order on religious liberty could cause "constitutional problems."
Since the Boy Scouts of America decided to accept transgender youngsters, there appears to be a growing market for a different kind of scouting group.
HYDERBALD, Pakistan – Pakistanis are mourning those killed and wounded in a series of terrorist attacks which have taken place this week in the country, including one on a Sufi shrine that left more than 80 people dead.
OXFORD, England – Church leaders and organizations in Africa, Europe and the United States said it would be disastrous if U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order telling companies they no longer had to disclose whether their firms use "conflict minerals" from Congo.
VATICAN CITY – On Friday Pope Francis paid a visit to Rome’s Roma Tre university, stressing to students the importance of dialogue, listening and integration in putting an end to the fear that can at times be generated in the face of welcoming new migrants.
February 18, 2017
MADRID, Spain – Josefa Rodríguez and Amaro Pesquero were not expecting to receive a letter from Pope Francis.
VATICAN CITY – Even her friend of more than 30 years, Father Sebastian Vazhakala, did not know Mother Teresa had conversations with and visions of Jesus before forming the Missionaries of Charity.