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.
How should American Catholics respond to the U.S. attacks on Iran? Perhaps the Feast of Corpus Christi offers a counterpoint to the god of war, power and vengeance invoked by so many today.
Aware of the deep concern this new act of violence has caused among Christians in this part of the world, Pope Leo offered these words of assurance: “I say to the Christians of the Middle East: I am close to you! The whole church is close to you!”
Among the hopeful and fearful seeking their place in an occupied city, the Virgin—Patroness of All the Americas—is a sign that a community with humane borders and greater compassion may be possible.