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Voices
Bridget Ryder is a freelance writer based in Spain.
Migrants wait to be transferred from Lampedusa Island, Italy, on Sept. 15. Thousands of migrants and refugees have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa this week after crossing the Mediterranean Sea on small unseaworthy boats from Tunisia, overwhelming local authorities and aid organizations. (AP Photo/Valeria Ferraro)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
On his visit to Marseille last week, Pope Francis decried the “fanaticism of indifference” on the plight of migrants who risk their lives—and all too often lose them—in the attempt to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.
Following the Way from southern France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain—a famous Catholic pilgrimage site—in 2018. The shot was taken during filming of the PBS documentary "Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago." (CNS photo/courtesy CaminoDocumentary.org) 
FaithDispatches
Bridget Ryder
Pilgrims take the 500-mile Camino de Santiago pondering deeply personal questions, seeking insight through the journey or simply wanting time to reflect and encounter God. With Sister Katherine, they are able to talk through their experience and its unique lessons.
A firefighting plane sprays water to extinguish wildfire at Ciovo island, Croatia, Thursday, July 27, 2023. A large fire is reported on the island of Ciovo, close to Split on the Croatian Adriatic coast. (AP Photo/Miroslav Lelas)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
The Green Deal amends the European Union’s climate, energy, transport and taxation policies with the short term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030.
Pope Francis and four French bishops make the sign of the cross during silent prayer for the victims of abuses committed by members of the clergy, prior to the pope's general audience at the Vatican on Oct. 6, 2021. The bishops were visiting Rome following a report on sexual abuse in France that estimates more than 200,000 children were abused by priests since 1950, and more than 100,000 others were abused by lay employees of church institutions. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
FaithDispatches
Bridget Ryder
The report landed on French Catholics like a bomb. French bishops had never considered sexual abuse a serious problem. “We have been in denial for 20 years,” Father Goujon said. “The bishops said that [that kind of abuse] could never happen here.”
Demonstrators confront law enforcement officers during a protest in Warsaw, Poland, Jan. 28, 2021, against the verdict restricting abortion rights. After a ban on aborting disabled children came into force, Poland's Catholic Church urged "all possible help" for pregnant women and single mothers. (CNS photo/Kacper Pempel, Reuters)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
A grassroots pro-life movement is emerging across the continent with elements that seem straight from the U.S. pro-life playbook. Could a U.S.-style culture war be brewing in Europe?
People mainly from Morocco stand on the shore as the Spanish Army cordons off a beach at the border of Morocco and Spain in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on May 18. Ceuta faced a humanitarian crisis after thousands of Moroccans took advantage of relaxed border control in their country to swim or paddle in inflatable boats into European soil. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
Relations between Morocco and Spain are complex, fraught with clashing political and economic interests—with thousands of migrants caught in the middle.
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
Spanish bishops published their own letter on the issue last December, “Sowers of Hope,” in which they reminded Catholics that “there is no one that can’t be cared for even if they are incurable.”
Demonstrations in November were conducted all over Spain against the ‘Ley Celaá.’ Photo courtesy of Mas Plurales.
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
A new law threatens the viability of government-supported Catholic schools in Spain.
Newly arrived migrants are transferred by Spanish police to a temporary location after arriving at the coast of Gran Canaria island, Spain, on Nov. 1. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean sailing on a wooden boat, a group of 44 migrants had arrived at Maspalomas beach. (AP Photo/Javier Bauluz)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
So far this year, over 16,760 migrants have survived clandestine voyages from Africa’s west coast to Spain’s Canary Islands, more than 5,500 arriving over just the last two weeks.