Catholics, Leo suggests, should neither attempt to dominate the political sphere nor separate themselves from it.
Religious Freedom
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
Facing—and naming—the existential threat to Christians in Nigeria
Though other factors are surely at play, church leaders in Nigeria insist the attacks are part of a systematic campaign to drive Christians from the region or force their conversion.
Posted inFaith, News Analysis
State laws require priests to disclose abuse revealed in confession
Washington State’s new law mandating priests to divulge abuse revealed in confessions is the latest salvo in a larger dispute between the Catholic Church and multiple U.S. states.
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
Worst violence in years in Syria revives fears among minority Alawite and Christian communities
The question asked by many Syrians from Alawite, Shiite, Druse, Christian and other minority communities has become: “Can [I] live in an Islamist country and not be [Sunni] Muslim?”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Trump’s war on DEI reaches Georgetown Law
Edward Martin, interim United States attorney for the District of Columbia, said he would refuse to hire Georgetown Law graduates unless the school eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Faith groups sued the Trump administration for its immigration policies. Church leaders should support them.
More than two dozen Christian and Jewish denominations have sued the Trump administration’s to stop ICE agents from making arrests in churches. Solidarity requires us to do more to help the vulnerable.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
What does the future hold for Christians in Syria after Assad?
The rapid victory of the Sunni opposition fighters over regular army units loyal to Mr. al-Assad has left many wondering how Syria’s minority faith groups—Alawites, Christians, Shiites and others—will fare as H.T.S. consolidates its control.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
U.S. bishops’ latest religious liberty concern: the government threatening their work with migrants
Attacks by members of Congress on Catholic ministries that are providing humanitarian assistance to migrants were among the challenges to religious freedom detailed by the U.S. bishops in their annual report.
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
What will the fall of al-Assad mean for Syria’s ancient Christian community?
Many Syrians remain apprehensive about how religious minorities, including Christians, will be treated in a new political reality being established by a Sunni militia that is still listed as a terror organization by the U.S. State Department.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Why does the French government—and not the Catholic Church—own Notre-Dame Cathedral?
Notre-Dame, and many churches in France, are owned by the state and merely used by the church. That gave the French government, and President Macron, a big voice in the restoration project.