The president of the U.S. bishops’ conference called for a special collection to bolster the Catholic Church’s response to a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as the Israel-Hamas war continues to grind on.
Humanitarian Aid
Posted inNews
Madonna urges Pope Leo to visit Gaza ‘before it’s too late’
Addressing Pope Leo XIV, Madonna wrote: “Most Holy Father. Please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it’s too late. As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
‘Lives hanging by a thread’: Looking at hunger and starvation in Gaza
Observers around the world have grown weary of the images of starving children and desperate people gunned down while trying to collect bags of flour or boxes of food.
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
Trump closing U.S.A.I.D. could cost an estimated 14 million lives by 2030
The end of U.S.A.I.D. will result in the loss of a “staggering” 14 million lives by 2030, including the deaths of 4.5 million children under age 5.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
The Catholic case for American cosmopolitanism
A cosmopolitan stance—one that values other cultures while treasuring the unique gifts of one’s own—is a necessary one in a world where Donald Trump is destroying the venturing spirit and generosity of the American people.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
An SOS for Gaza: Christian peace group calls for cease-fire and life-saving aid
With the Gaza death toll rising and entire families obliterated as Israeli forces seek to strike diminishing numbers of Hamas targets, more impassioned appeals for an end to the violence have come from ecclesial and political leaders from around the world.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
The end of bipartisan support for global AIDS treatment: 20 years of progress is on the line
The longer PEPFAR remains hobbled, the greater the number of patients who will suffer the terrifying consequences of stopped treatment—a kind of reverse Lazarus effect.
Posted inFaith, News
CRS sends Congress a ‘Catholic, pro-life vision’ for foreign aid amid USAID shutdown
Amid funding uncertainty, CRS submitted testimony to congressional lawmakers about how Catholic teaching can help form a new path forward on U.S. aid.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Catholic Relief Services responds to Myanmar earthquake disaster
“Hospitals are overwhelmed, and people are sleeping out on the streets, anywhere they can, in fields and playgrounds and religious compounds.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
Catholic Relief Services carries on after Elon Musk’s takedown of USAID
Musk’s federal takeover produced significant collateral damage. Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. church’s global humanitarian relief and development agency, had been U.S.A.I.D.’s biggest faith-based international partner.