International

Pope’s United Nations envoy hypes dialogue with Muslim World League

The Vatican is stepping up its alliance with a pan-Islamic organization alleged to have provided “material support” to al-Qaeda’s 9/11 terrorist operation as well as to have funded terrorism and the global propagation of hardline Wahhabi Islam. As part of recent efforts at re-branding its image through “religious diplomacy,” the Saudi-sponsored Muslim World League (MWL) hosted the […]

Switzerland’s Catholic bishops lament record exodus from Church in 2019

Bishops in Switzerland lamented a record exodus of Catholics from the Church in 2019. The new figures, released on Nov. 19, revealed that the Catholic Church lost 31,772 members in 2019 – equivalent to 1.1% of the total membership of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. This marked a 25% increase on the previous year, when […]

Multiple Beheadings in Mozambique: Is the World Indifferent?

On November 10, Al Jazeera posted a breathtaking headline: “ISIS-linked attackers behead 50 people in northern Mozambique.” The subhead was equally horrifying: “Witnesses say the assailants herded victims onto a football pitch in the village of Muatide where the killings were carried out.” In the midst of a pandemic, and in the throes of a highly contested […]

Catholic Hong Kong media mogul: ‘Freedom has a price’

In the words of Jimmy Lai, “freedom has a price.” That’s why the Chinese media mogul and activist is leaning on his Catholic faith for support as he faces potential prison time and continues the fight for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. Speaking at the Acton Institute’s 30th anniversary virtual celebration, Lai, who runs […]

Spain’s bishops meet as religious freedom threatened in the country

With the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops holding a virtual fall assembly, the bishops of Spain are also holding their fall gathering. On the agenda for the Spanish bishops are Europe’s rising populist currents, and a bill in Spain that threatens religious education. In his opening speech, the conference president, Cardinal Juan Jose Omella of […]

New book sketches Pope’s dream for a post-COVID world

In that brief inter-mezzo over the summer between what turned out to be the first and second great surges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis held a series of appropriately socially distanced, “vir-tual” conversations with his premier English-language explicator about what he believes needs to be done for the world to be better than it […]

McCarrick scandal shows why popes, like John Paul, should not be canonized

The recent report detailing the Vatican’s response to the scan-dal surrounding ex-Cardinal Theo-dore McCarrick shows why it’s a mistake to canonize Popes (or anyone) quickly after their deaths. According to the Vatican report released, Pope John Paul II received warnings about McCarrick from Vatican officials and New York Cardinal John O’Connor in 1999. Two years later, […]

Pope tells Christians to break ‘rules’

Pope Francis has made an impassioned plea to Christians to reach out to the poor and homeless. Speaking on the World Day of the Poor, he said it was not enough simply not to do harm. Not doing good was also not good. “We must do good, go out of ourselves and look, look at […]

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Pope: Red Cross’ humanitarian work shows that fraternity is possible

New Vatican document lists ‘grave violations’ of human dignity