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.
International
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.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Interview: Jesuit journalist on the roots of insurgent violence in Africa—and how faith communities are responding
Extremist and criminal violence is on the rise across Northern Africa from Somalia to Nigeria as local security forces face off against gangs and insurgencies they are often ill-equipped to contain.
Posted inArts & Culture, Dispatches
‘The Quiet Girl’ at the Oscars shows the Irish language’s surprising resurgence
Film-making in Ireland has been in the shadow of other cultural successes in literature and music. That may all be about to change. At this year’s Academy Awards, there are three movies with strong Irish connections up for Oscar consideration.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
After Turkey’s devastating earthquakes, can a 2,000-year-old Christian community survive?
Long before the earthquakes in February, the viability of the Christian community in Samandag had been under cultural and economic threat. Many from the city’s minority Christian community had already departed, seeking economic or educational opportunities elsewhere.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
‘Do not forget us’: Catholics in Ukraine mark a year of war
The staff and volunteers of Caritas Ukraine accept a double duty—agents of humanitarian aid but also, with their families, victims and targets of conflict themselves.