The latest boutique hotel to open its doors in Bethlehem’s Old City, just minutes away from Manger Square, is the Morcos Nassar Palace, which doubles as a humanitarian project unique in Palestine and possibly in the Arab world.
Dispatches
Posted inDispatches, Faith
‘Longest Night’ services bring comfort to Catholics dealing with loss this Christmas season
Coinciding with the winter solstice, the Longest Night is a prayer service aimed at offering comfort to people who struggle with the in-your-face, over-the-top joy sometimes demanded during the Christmas season.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Bitcoin blessings: Inside the curious world of Catholic crypto enthusiasts
Electronic encryption allows people to keep a list of information secure and untouchable by centralized powers. To some investors and speculators, and apparently to some Catholics, that possibility holds enormous appeal.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Pope Francis puts Matteo Ricci on path to sainthood
The great Jesuit missionary to China, Matteo Ricci, was declared “Venerable” by Pope Francis today, the first step on the path to canonization.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The death penalty’s 2022 lowlight: a record number of botched executions
According to the Death Penalty Information Center: “Seven of the 20 execution attempts were visibly problematic—an astonishing 37 percent—as a result of executioner incompetence, failures to follow protocols, or defects in the protocols themselves.”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Republicans accuse Catholic Charities of breaking the law in its border response
Catholic Charities USA officials pushed back strongly against allegations from Republican House of Representatives members that its humanitarian responses to the U.S. border crisis were potentially criminal acts.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Cardinal Gregory says Catholics should be ‘outraged’ by rising antisemitism
In an interview with America, Cardinal Wilton Gregory said that Catholics have an obligation to be well-informed about the news, especially when antisemitic comments or actions are prevalent.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Is the Biden administration ready to respond to a Haitian immigration emergency?
People who hope to escape Haiti’s cholera outbreak and life-threatening insecurity cannot wait for a more welcome climate to emerge in the United States.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Catholic AIDS memorial finds a new home in NYC parish—but not without controversy
A decades-old memorial for people who died from AIDS-related complications has found a new home in a New York City church.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
As Netanyahu puts his government together, Christians contemplate their future in Israel and the West Bank
Mere “survival should not be the utmost ambition for a people in democratic countries, but rather prosperity and welfare. I believe that Israel is going to be more Jewish and much less democratic, and we’ll all pay the price for that.”