The Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan said he was horrified to see widespread devastation and what he called “ghost towns” during a recent visit to northern Iraq. He said by email that there was little left in some of the communities that he toured on Nov. 27-29 and that
Signs Of the Times
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News Briefs
As intersectinginternational interests collide, what is unfolding in Syria is a veritable "workshop of cruelty," Pope Francis told governing members of Caritas Internationalis on Nov. 17. • An outspoken priest in Veracruz, Mexico, who had been reported missing on Nov. 11, the Rev. José Luis Sánchez Ruiz was found aliveby Mexican police two days later, […]
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Bishops Await President Trump
Given that just days before the bishops met, the United States wrapped up a bizarre election season, there were some sparks in Baltimore about what to expect under President-elect Donald J. Trump.
Posted inFaith, Signs Of the Times
Mercy Continues
In an apostolic letter released at the close of the Holy Year of Mercy, Pope Francis called on the Catholic Church worldwide “to promote a culture of mercy in which no one looks at another with indifference or turns away from the suffering of our brothers and sisters.”
Posted inFaith, Signs Of the Times
‘Bad Spirit’ in the Church?
The church is not a prop for one’s ego, a soapbox for ideas or a suit of armor protecting a sad life, Pope Francis said in an interview published in the Nov. 18 edition of Avvenire, an Italian Catholic newspaper. “The church exists only as an instrument for communicating God’s merciful plan to the people.” […]
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Myanmar’s Three ‘Cs’
Yangon Cardinal Charles Bo said it was time to “reverse the trend” of a 60-year decline in Myanmar.
Posted inFaith, Signs Of the Times
New U.S. Cardinals Condemn Polarization Inside the Church
“The problem that we have today, not only in society but also in the church, is that we’ve become too polarized,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell, an Irish-born prelate who was bishop of Dallas before taking over a Vatican department on family life earlier this year, told America.
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Can storytelling reduce gun violence in Chicago?
In Chicago, 17 people were lost to gun violence in a single weekend.
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Church Advocates on the Alert As Transition Begins in Washington
“Two priorities that we have are unity and governance,” said Jonathan Reyes, executive director of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development. “So this divisive election—we somehow have to get to the other side. That will not be easy,
Posted inPolitics & Society, Signs Of the Times
Ballot initiatives backed by Catholic leaders lose in several states
In this year’s election, voters went against nearly all of the ballot initiatives backed by Catholic leaders and advocates, except referendums on minimum wage increases and gun control measures in four states.