After France became the first country in the world to enshrine abortion as a “guaranteed freedom” into its constitution, pro-life leaders say they are mobilizing to counteract the unprecedented move.
Europe
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The Catholic Church in Hungary is deeply politicized—and shrinking
Even as Prime Minister Victor Orban positions his government as one of the last defenders of Christian culture in Europe, religious affiliation in Hungary has dropped to a record low.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Infographic: Catholic identity in Ireland in a rapid fall
The numbers tell a bleak story for the Catholic Church in Ireland
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Analysis: Britain’s bizarre, costly and cruel plan to deport migrants to Rwanda
Condemned by the Jesuit Refugee Service UK as a “cruel plan” that “violates human dignity,” the policy authorizes deporting people who come to the United Kingdom in search of safety to Rwanda.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
The last priests and nuns in Ireland: Exploring the Irish Catholic Church’s steep decline
RTÉ aired two documentaries in January looking at the decline of the Catholic Church in Ireland: “The Last Priests in Ireland” and “The Last Nuns in Ireland.” But signs of hope can still be discerned amid the decline after years of church turbulence.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: The examined life in the eternal city
Like much of Liam Callanan’s fiction, ‘When in Rome’ hints at the action of divine grace in people’s lives and how the protagonists come to understand and appreciate its beneficence.
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
The Weekly Dispatch: Wisdom from Pope Francis for the billionaires meeting in Davos
From a Catholic point of view, there is good reason to look askance at some of the “false promises” coming out of Davos, including the idea that better technology and the economic system as it is can deal with global poverty, inequality and care of creation.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
A Monastic Christmas Fair: How laypeople in Spain are marketing monasteries to the modern world
The Christmas fair in Madrid was the work of Fundación Contemplare, a nonprofit set up to help Spain’s monasteries continue a legacy of gourmet baked goods and handmade candies but also, more importantly, to support contemplative life and reconnect monasteries with the world around them.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Vatican decree on blessing same-sex couples gets mixed responses from bishops in Europe and Africa
Global reaction among bishops to the Vatican’s declaration that priests may now bless same-sex couples appears most divergent in some European and African nations.
Posted inFaith, News
After devastating 2019 fire, Notre-Dame Cathedral set to reopen in one year
“The expectations, the preparations for the reopening are a magnificent sign of hope in a difficult world,” the Rev. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, Notre-Dame’s rector, said.