The alleged papal puppy putdown raised the question: Is there a spiritual component to owning an animal?
Dispatches
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
A priest calls out violence against the poor and homeless in Brazil: ‘We have to move from hostility to hospitality’
The Rev. Júlio Lancellotti is São Paulo’s designated vicar for street people. He has been posting images of spikes and other elements of hostile architecture gathered from cell phone photos or video from all over Brazil.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
A bombshell report on sex abuse left France ‘flabbergasted.’ Yet most French Catholics still believe there is hope for reform
The report landed on French Catholics like a bomb. French bishops had never considered sexual abuse a serious problem. “We have been in denial for 20 years,” Father Goujon said. “The bishops said that [that kind of abuse] could never happen here.”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Communion war returns with dueling op-eds by Las Vegas bishop and pro-choice Catholic politician
Bishop George L. Thomas said he would not ask priests to police the Communion line but asked pro-choice politicians to voluntarily “refrain from the reception of Holy Communion while holding public office.”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Interview: One year after a coup in Myanmar, Cardinal Bo on the chances for peace
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon assesses the future in Myanmar one year after a coup turned back a decade of democratic progress, calling for dialogue, the end of violence and the release of political prisoners.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
This Catholic high school is 70% Latino—four times the national average—and still growing
Most young Catholics are Latino, but only 17 percent of Catholic students are. This Catholic high school is trying to change that.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Does the March for Life have a white supremacy problem?
March for Life organizers would do well to issue strong disavowals beforehand in anticipation of attempts by white supremacists to co-opt its message.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
El Salvador’s president made Bitcoin a national currency. A Jesuit says the project reminds him of ‘the seven deadly sins’
President Bukele enjoys strong popularity at home and in neighboring Central American countries, but his government faces accusations of authoritarianism and corruption.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Group projects pro-choice messages on national basilica, the latest targeting of Catholic worship spaces over abortion
With tens of thousands of anti-abortion protesters gathered for the annual March for Life, Catholics for Choice projected pro-abortion messages on the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Infographic: Annual audit tracks increase in allegations of historic abuse incidents
The annual audit tracks not only new charges of abuse but also how well U.S. dioceses and eparchies are observing child protection protocols established in 2002 by the U.S.C.C.B. in accordance with its “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”