The crisis is one of "institutional traumatization" in which wrongdoings have been perpetrated by an institution upon individuals dependent on that institution, according to Father Zollner, who said "steps forward" to address it globally are being made in Rome.

The State Department announced Wednesday (Feb. 5) that 27 countries have joined the new International Religious Freedom Alliance that seeks to reduce religious persecution across the globe.

In the impeachment and trial of President Trump, institutional self-interest was insufficient to overcome partisan self-interest.

When the president arrived Thursday morning (Feb. 6), he stood before the applauding crowd and held aloft a newspaper emblazoned with a headline announcing his acquittal by the U.S. Senate from impeachment charges.

“The world is rich but, notwithstanding this, the [number of] poor people around us is increasing,” Pope Francis said. “Hundreds of millions of people are living in extreme poverty, lacking the bare necessities of life including food, medical care, schools, drinking water.”

A majority of the deaths documented by Human Rights Watch in the report Wednesday occurred less than a year after the deportees returned to El Salvador; some were within days. The organization also confirmed at least 70 cases of sexual assault or other violence following their arrival in the country.