World News

Amnesty International UK pulled a report that designated 117 organizations as “anti-rights,” including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and organizations that defend the rights to life and religious freedom. “Because these groups challenge core human rights principles, Amnesty International UK uses the term ‘anti-rights’ to describe their aims and impact,” the ... read more

The president and two vice presidents of the French bishops’ conference lamented the legalization of euthanasia in France. The National Assembly (the French Parliament’s lower house) voted three times in favor of the legislation, and the Senate voted three times against it. The French Constitution grants the government the authority to allow the ... read more

At the conclusion of a three-day conference, most of which was held at Castel Gandolfo, some 200 Nobel laureates, AI experts, former heads of state, and Catholic prelates adopted the Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Nuclear and Autonomous Weapons, New Digital Protocols, and Emerging Models of ... read more

Detail from "The Scapegoat" (1854) by William Holman Hunt. (Image: Wikipedia) Everyone knows what a scapegoat is, but few realize that the word comes from the Bible. In Leviticus 16:20-22, Moses told his brother Aaron to take a live goat, lay his hands on the goat’s head, confess all the sins ... read more

Bishops at the Second Vatican Council. (Image: Lothar Wolleh/WikiCommons) In Part One of this essay on Dignitatis Humanae, I made the argument, following Tracey Rowland and Russel Hittinger, that DH should be read minimalistically as a simple affirmation that no person should be forcibly coerced in religious matters by the Church, or ... read more

When news broke of the death of the extremely conservative-minded English politician Ann Widdecombe on July 10, reaction from many of those on the left of British politics was immediate. She was going straight to Hell—because she was a Catholic. “Hell has gained another demon,” gloried one social media user. In Ann’s case, such reactions ... read more

by Paolo AffatatoPhnom Penh – "Cambodia is facing a dual humanitarian emergency. On the one hand, there are the people displaced by the conflict along the border with Thailand; on the other, there is a silent crisis involving the victims of the 'scam cities', people caught up in human trafficking, abducted and reduced to slavery."This ... read more

The Irish government lent its support to legislation that would grant paid leave to mothers who abort their children. The bill would also grant paid leave to mothers who are grieving the loss of a child through miscarriage. “The measure is insulting to women, who know the difference between abortion and miscarriage,” said Sandra ... read more

The Vatican newspaper devoted the most prominent article in its July 16 edition to the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to the resistance—violent at times—that health care workers face. Dr. Mapendo Ndaliko Augustin, medical advisor for the Diocese of Butembo-Beni, told L’Osservatore Romano that “both rural and ... read more

The Diocese of Albano, in which Castel Gandolfo is located, has organized a concert in honor of Pope Leo. The July 18 concert will include works by Niccolò Paganini and Vincenzo Bellini. “The renewed presence of the Holy Father in our diocesan territory has filled our local Church and its people with ... read more

"What we were learning from the World Cup in its early phase was that sport can be experienced as a human phenomenon with internal goods or intrinsic rewards," writes Patrick Kelly.  ... read more

Lawyers for Peruvian plaintiffs reached a $150 million settlement with Doe Run and the Renco Group, bringing an end to a 19-year lawsuit that was supported along the way by the Catholic Church in Peru and the U.S. ... read more

Technology, detached from ethics and responsibility, will make wartime decisions about life and death more rapid and impersonal, the pope writes in the final chapter of Magnifica Humanitas. ... read more

Q. I’m writing because I’m concerned about my 12-year-old granddaughter’s attitude and behavior. My daughter—her mother—is a single parent. The father is mostly absent and generally unreliable. Ever since my granddaughter was very young, I have tried to give my daughter the benefit of my advice and insight, especially since I know firsthand how hard ... read more

Prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us. — St. Teresa of Ávila ... read more