After a tense standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States over the presence of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, the editors of America weigh the outcome and the consequences.
Latin America
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
In historic first, Pope Francis approves an ‘ecclesial conference’ with lay people instead of a bishops-only leadership body
Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno, S.J., explained that the now officially recognized body “involves bishops, priests, women and men religious and the lay faithful from the nine countries of the Amazon region.”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The majority of Americans think migrants are ‘invading’ the U.S. Meanwhile, suffering at the border continues.
Shifting public perceptions on immigration—often based on political rhetoric and a misunderstanding of the facts on the ground—may help explain why there has been little, if any, movement on immigration reform in Congress.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Border apprehensions are at record highs—but they include many repeat offenders
Border Patrol officials said that the large number of expulsions during the pandemic had contributed to a higher-than-usual number of migrants making multiple border crossing attempts.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Chile’s constitution vote raises difficult questions for Catholics about equality and abortion
Chileans will get to vote on Sunday as to whether or not to adopt a new constitution. Chilean Catholics face a document that supports some Catholic ideas of equality and community yet also codifies abortion and euthanasia.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Popes rarely intervene in authoritarian politics. Nicaraguans want Pope Francis to make an exception.
For critics of the first Latin American pope, Francis’ recent expression of concern about the crackdown on Catholics in Nicaragua was too little too late.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Pope Francis voices ‘worry and sorrow’ over bishop’s detention in Nicaragua
At his Sunday noon remarks, Pope Francis described his worry and sorrow for events in Nicaragua. Police have detained several Catholic clergy in the country.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Nicaraguan police remove outspoken bishop in predawn raid. His whereabouts are unknown.
Nicaraguan police burst into Matagalpa diocesan headquarters and removed an outspoken bishop who had been under house arrest for more than two weeks.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
‘I was a child raising a child’: the cost of Latin American family separation—and the long journey to reunite
Though family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border has been a much-debated topic in recent years, children in Central America have long faced extended periods away from their migrant parents.
Posted inExplainer, Politics & Society
Explainer: The Catholic Church’s fraught relationship with the Nicaraguan government
For five years, the government and church of Nicaragua have been at odds over protests and state corruption.