“Well, she read in the newspaper that you pick up after yourself and you cook your own food and wash your own clothes,” Archbishop Tobin recalled telling him. “She’s had it up to here with the sort of monarchic church!”The future pope laughed, and the remarks apparently
Signs Of the Times
Posted inPolitics & Society, Signs Of the Times
Typhoon Haima hammers Philippines
Heavy damage was reported to homes and farmland in the northern Philippines on Oct. 20 after the strongest storm in three years struck overnight. Typhoon Haima barreled into northern Cagayan and Isabella provinces, ripping the roofs off homes and flattening crops. By late Oct. 21, 13 people had been
Posted inPolitics & Society, Signs Of the Times
Canada bishops deplore refugee delays
The president of the Canadian bishops’ conference has written a frank letter to Canada’s federal immigration minister urging immediate government action to unclog delays in processing refugee applicants. Bishop Douglas Crosby, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, wro
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Continue Cease-Fire
Colombia’s Catholic bishops urged the government and armed rebels to commit to an indefinite cease-fire while a new peace deal is negotiated after voters rejected an agreement that would have formally ended the Western Hemisphere’s longest-running war. Following a meeting on Oct. 13-14,
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In South Africa, are student demonstrations a sideshow to the nation’s real problems?
Chaos and intransigence in the universities is matched by absurd criminal charges against a minister of finance who may only be doing his job too well.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Signs Of the Times
Black Lives Matter in Canada, too
In a country known for maple-syrupy trivialities and over-politeness, the idea that the U.S.-based campaign against police brutality could secure or even need a national foothold may come as a surprise.
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Recovery Will Take Long-term Effort in Haiti
The people of southern Haiti are traumatized and the landscape has suffered “complete devastation.” Hurricane Matthew survivors “have never seen anything like this,” Christopher Bessey, the country representative for Haiti for Catholic Relief Services, reports. The Category 4
Posted inFaith, Signs Of the Times
Cardinal Surprises
A 5 a.m. wake-up call from a friend in Rome alerted Cardinal-designate Blase J. Cupich of Chicago to the news that Pope Francis had added his name to the list of church leaders soon to be made cardinals. The previous six archbishops of Chicago received a red hat, but Pope Francis has recently skippe
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Doctors Against Assisted Suicide
Two Catholic organizations are calling on physicians to urge the American Medical Association to maintain its current stance against physician-assisted suicide. The call from the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Catholic Bioethics Center
Posted inFaith, Signs Of the Times
Check Your Hypocrisy
Meeting a pilgrimage of Catholics and Lutherans from Germany, Pope Francis said he does not like “the contradiction of those who want to defend Christianity in the West and, on the other hand, are against refugees and other religions.” Answering questions from young people in the group o