“I do believe all our prayers are headed in the same direction and can be a really powerful force coming together,” said Peta Jones Pellach, an Orthodox Jewish woman. “I don’t see it as just symbolic. I believe in the power of prayer.”
News
Pope Francis recalls ‘slander’ of Oscar Romero, draws strength from martyr’s example
“Only God knows the stories of those people who have given their lives, who have died, and continue to be stoned with the hardest stone that exists in the world: language.”
Language must change in order to build peace, cardinal says
“Expressing everything in terms of balance of power—the struggles of groups and classes, friends and enemies—creates fertile ground for social barriers, contempt, even hatred and terrorism and their veiled or open justification,” Cardinal Parolin told representatives of the world’s religions Oct. 28 at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.
China announces it will change its policy, allow all families 2 children
The Chinese government imposed its one-child policy in 1979 to curb the growth of the population that, at that time, was reaching 972 million people. The policy most strictly applied to Han Chinese, but not to ethnic minorities around China.
Catholic agencies have long forged relationships with new House speaker
The Wisconsin Republican is faced with keeping his party’s conference unified as he takes a position that places him third in line for the presidency. He has vowed to change business-as-usual in the House by building broad consensus for legislation and pledged to eschew last-minute, closed-door deals.
Government economic policies must follow ‘moral compass,’ says IMF head
“Is Christian faith incompatible with vast wealth?”
Bishops to consider election document, USCCB priorities, sainthood causes
The U.S. bishops will consider whether to approve a new introductory note and a limited revision of their quadrennial statement on political responsibility during their Nov. 16-19 fall general assembly in Baltimore.The statement, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," is reissued
Wisconsin clinic suspends abortions; pro-lifers hope for permanent stop
Planned Parenthood in Grand Chute suspended abortions in mid-October, citing a lack of medical staff. The building, and Planned Parenthood’s office in Appleton, remains open. Various news reports and sources say that the suspension is because officials there lack an abortion doctor for the site.
Mexico mops up after Patricia; ‘nature was kind,’ official says
An official with Caritas Mexico, the church’s charitable arm, says the storm left a mess in parts of the dioceses serving the western states of Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit with flooding and property damage, but mostly impacted small settlements and rural areas—which were being provided with assistance from parishes diocesan collections.
St. Louis faith, civic leaders unclear of motivation behind church fires
The arson, at St. Joseph specifically and at the churches in general, left Father Wunderlich with “question marks. I don’t know what else to say. The first question that comes to my mind is, ‘Why would anybody want to do it.’ I’m sure that’s on the mind of police officers and arson specialists. What would be the motivation for something like this?”
