World News

Battambang – “We must not give in to indifference or hatred. It is necessary to explore peaceful solutions to resolve the conflict on the border with Thailand and try to restore full harmony and stability,” Bishop Enrique Figaredo, Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, a region affected by the presence of refugees following the armed conflict on ... read more

The vice president of Haiti’s episcopal conference called for a world day of prayer for the Caribbean nation. “Our people have been suffering for years without anyone seeming to care,” Bishop Pierre-André Dumas of Anse-à-Veau-Miragoâne told the Vatican newspaper. “Therefore, the world must be helped to rediscover a sense of concrete solidarity toward Haiti ... read more

Addressing a conference in Tajikistan, a Vatican diplomat said that “building resilience into the world’s agrifood systems is among the most urgent priorities of our time,” according to a summary of his remarks by Vatican News. “The combination of merciless wars, economic recessions, extreme climate events, political instability, and market volatility has given rise ... read more

Reflecting on synodality, the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, called for a “spiritual culture” of listening. Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, archbishop of Goa and Daman and Patriarch of the East Indies, said in an interview that listening “means allowing space for dissent. We must grow to accept dissenting voices without ... read more

The Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists fined a Catholic counselor $89,636 after he declined to bless a client’s same-sex relationship. Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of the counselor, Frank Canepa. “Counseling is speech, which is protected by the First Amendment,” Canepa’s attorney said. “Oregon law says counselors ... read more

An Israeli soldier was sentenced to 21 days in military detention for placing a cigarette in the mouth of a Marian statue in Debel, Lebanon. A second soldier who photographed the act was sentenced to 14 days. Israel’s military “respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols ... read more

Addressing a UN discussion of migration, a Vatican diplomat praised the Global Compact for Migration (2018) and called for “renewed collective ownership and joint implementation.” “Migrants are, first and foremost, human beings whose God-given dignity, as well as fundamental human rights and freedoms must remain at the core of international cooperation and migration ... read more

Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, New Mexico, suspended Father Christopher Williams, the pastor of the Basilica of San Albino, amid allegations that he stole diocesan financial records and gave them to a lay organization, Voice of the Laity. Voice of the Laity contended that Father Williams “is being unfairly punished ... read more

(Image Credit: Wuttichai Jantarak/Shutterstock) Before joining what once imagined itself the world’s greatest deliberative body, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) was a decorated naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut with four space shuttle missions to his credit. Now, like approximately 80% of his senatorial colleagues, Senator Kelly looks in the mirror ... read more

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, traveled to Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations with the Holy See. Speaking at a conference on May 11, Archbishop Gallagher highlighted the importance of the “defense of life, the family, religious freedom, human ... read more

The bishops of the Orthodox Church of Georgia (CNEWA profile) elected Shio III as the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia on May 11. ... read more

The general counsel of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined by representatives of four other Catholic organizations, decried a policy change proposed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Under the proposal, families with mixed immigration status would be “effectively prohibited from participating in federally funded housing programs,” the ... read more

(Image: Screen shot / www.synod.va/en.html) ‘Synodal Shepherds’ Attack the Sheep (The Catholic Thing): “What the Church has only recently become accustomed to is attacks upon her teaching coming from some of her shepherds, especially from the never-ending pronouncements emanating from the office of the Synod of Bishops.“ A Place to Dream at ... read more

The pope's refusal to let President Donald Trump misrepresent his position on nuclear weapons points to a "deeper moral problem increasingly present in public life," Fr. Enzo Del Brocco writes.  ... read more

So often, when we in the U.S. debate a war, we omit much of the globe from the conversation: We do not talk about (or to) rice farmers in Asia or soda vendors in Kenya when discussing the cost of a war in the Middle East. ... read more