“It’s a fact that church attendance has strongly (been) reduced, with a significant and steady decline in priestly vocations and church membership, and an increasing loss of financial income.”
International
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Christians and the Turkish Vote: Will challenges to Erdogan’s reelection improve religious minorities’ status?
Election results could indicate the populist Islamism promoted by President Erdogan may be losing its appeal.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The Royal Family and their Irish neighbors: How Ireland will be represented at Charles III’s coronation
Sidestepping reservations individual party members must have about being associated with the pomp and ceremony of a very anti-republican spectacle, Sinn Féin hopes to demonstrate diplomatic gravitas and a mature capacity to lead all Ireland.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Jesuit human rights advocates in Mexico targeted by state-sponsored spyware
Mexico’s military has been one of the most prolific users of Pegasus spyware since 2011, having “targeted more cell phones with spyware than any other government agency in the world.”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Over a century after the Armenian genocide, a small Armenian Catholic community carries on in Istanbul
A tiny population of about 60,000 Armenian Christians remain in Turkey today. Most, uprooted from villages in eastern Anatolia, now live in neighborhoods in Istanbul.
Posted inLast Take, Politics & Society
An open letter to America about gun violence, from a very concerned Irishman
I was a teenager at the time of the Columbine High School shooting. No one could mistake suburban Dublin for anyone’s utopia, but even then my friends and I could recognize that we might as well live in a different galaxy.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Zimbabwe bishops warn against political violence during upcoming elections
Zimbabwe bishops condemned “heinous violent crimes” after videos circulated of opposition political supporters being attacked by suspected supporters of the ruling Zimababwe African National Union Patriotic Front.
Posted inFaith, News
Hong Kong’s Jesuit bishop visits Beijing as China-Vatican ties strain
Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic bishop arrived in Beijing on Monday, marking the first visit to the Chinese capital by the city’s bishop in nearly three decades, despite signs of Sino-Vatican strains.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Recap: Joe Biden goes to Ireland for serious diplomacy—and a family reunion
Mr. Biden’s visit is not just a symbolic endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement. The future of the accords has been thrown into doubt by the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union via its Brexit vote.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Looking toward holy days, turmoil in Israel over Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul causes concern
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been coming out into the streets for the past three months in escalating pro-democracy protests against the most politically and religiously extreme right-wing government Israel has ever had.