A $240 billion war chest for ICE and Border Patrol immigration enforcement suggests that the turmoil experienced by Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis is going to continue through the balance of Mr. Trump’s term in office, if indeed the chaos does not get much, much worse.
International
Posted inDispatches
Gaudí’s masterworks beyond Barcelona and La Sagrada Familia
Gaudí is deeply connected with his Catalonia homeland, but his journey to holiness started in Astorga, 500 miles west of Barcelona.
Posted inThe Weekly Dispatch
Did humanitarian aid cuts contribute to Africa’s Ebola outbreak?
The escalating outbreak threatens to become the deadliest Ebola crisis on record if the international community does not quickly step up its humanitarian and medical response.
Posted inDispatches
Spanish bishops denounce emotional manipulation in evangelization
The bishops‘ note warns that an “emotional bombardment” employed as part of some methods of evangelization can become a form of spiritual abuse or promote an “emotional reductionist” form of Catholic spirituality.
Posted inThe Weekly Dispatch
Trump’s ‘get tough’ on Cuba policy piles on island’s suffering
Trump’s “tough Cuba policy” breaks with recent efforts toward rapprochement supported by the Catholic Church, with the aim of overturning the Cuban revolution by year’s end.
Posted inDispatches
Taiwan’s tiny Catholic Church faces youth exodus as big powers decide the island’s fate
While the world knows about the crisis between mainland China and its “breakaway province” of Taiwan, within Taiwan itself a small Catholic community is struggling with its own challenges.
Posted inDispatches
Catholic ministries in Bangladesh face new challenges from Islamic extremists
While discrimination and persecution against Christians has grown sharper, it has been a longstanding problem.
Posted inDispatches
In secularizing Ireland, most parents still support their local Catholic schools
Why might a society that has so consistently sought to distance itself from Catholic influence at the polling booth remain hesitant about abandoning ecclesial patronage over the classroom?
Posted inDispatches
In Peru, it’s no contest when President Trump takes on Pope Leo
Peruvians remember with gratitude Pope Leo’s (then Bishop Prevost) response to catastrophic floods in Chiclayo. They recall him procuring oxygen tanks during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pope had also responded decisively to the exodus of migrants fleeing Venezuela for other parts of South America.
Posted inThe Weekly Dispatch
Catholic aid groups hope for a recovery after 2025’s deep cuts in global health assistance
After a historic collapse of U.S. and E.U. humanitarian and development assistance in 2025, finding new money to address persistent global health problems may be more challenging in 2026.