Over five years after Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned, the faithful will celebrate its reopening as it returns for the second weekend of Advent.
Europe
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Why does the French government—and not the Catholic Church—own Notre-Dame Cathedral?
Notre-Dame, and many churches in France, are owned by the state and merely used by the church. That gave the French government, and President Macron, a big voice in the restoration project.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Europe wants to deport Syrian refugees. Is their homeland ready for them?
Many Syrians would return voluntarily to their homeland, Father Benedict Kiely believes, “but it’s a question of what they are returning to.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
Review: ‘Bonhoeffer,’ Christian complicity and the fight against fascism
What separates “Bonhoeffer” from the myriad instructive Holocaust biographies and melodramas is its timing.
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
As foreign born numbers spike in Europe and America, xenophobia goes global
Around the affluent world, new hostility, resentment and anxiety has been directed at immigrant populations that are emerging as preferred scapegoats for all manner of political and socio-economic shortcomings.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Italy broadened its ban on surrogacy. Will other European states do the same?
Pope Francis has condemned surrogacy as a form of “false compassion.” Now, in Italy, engaging in surrogacy in another country, even where it may be legal, will be a criminal offense for Italian citizens.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
On Pope Francis’ visit to Belgium, critics spoke out on the role of women in the Catholic Church
In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and Colleen discuss the most newsworthy moments from Pope Francis’ visit to Belgium.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis: There is room for everyone in the church—but not for abuse and cover-up
In his homily during Mass Sept. 29 in Brussels, Pope Francis strayed from his prepared text to urge bishops to hide nothing, “condemn abuses” and assist perpetrators in getting help.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis says ‘the church should be ashamed of itself’ for the sex abuse crisis in hard-hit Belgium
The prime minister’s speech at the start of Pope Francis’ visit was one of the most pointed ever directed at the pope during a foreign trip and underscored just how raw the abuse scandal still is in Belgium.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis praises Luxembourg’s culture of welcome, ‘open doors’ to migrants
During a brief visit to Luxembourg, Pope Francis recalled the nation’s painful history and lauded its welcome to immigrants, encouraging its people “to be faithful to this legacy.”