BLOGS

A new report from a Christian advocacy group says that Christianity continues to thrive and grow despite brutal repression and attempts by governments, groups, and individuals across the world to quash the faith.  The 2023 “Persecutors of the Year” report was released this month by the advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC).  ICC’s report sheds light on…

The Holy See has signed an interfaith declaration on taking action to protect the environment during a religious summit held ahead of the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai.  Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, signed the statement on behalf of Pope Francis during the Global Faith Leaders Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab…

Pope Francis approved a miracle on November 8 attributed to Argentine Cardinal Eduardo Pironio, paving the way for the beatification of the curial cardinal whom the pope considered a friend.  The miracle, which Francis approved, involved the healing of a 15-month old boy in 2006 in Argentina named Juan Manuel Franco who suffered from acute…

The attorney general of Missouri announced a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the agency’s approval of shipping abortion drugs through the mail.  Republican State Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced the filing on his website on November 6, claiming that the FDA had “unlawfully approv[ed] the shipment of chemical abortion pills in…

During the month of October under the theme “Like the martyrs, together with Mary, firm in the faith,” thousands of people from the northern province of Jujuy in Argentina make pilgrimages to the shrine of their patroness, the Virgin of Río Blanco and Paypaya. Last weekend more than 40,000 young people turned out for the…

A lack of security is impoverishing the Church in Nigeria, the bishop of Nigeria’s Sokoto Diocese said this week, noting that in the northern part of the country alone, more than 30 million naira (about $37,200) has been spent to rescue Church personnel. Most of the money has been spent rescuing priests, seminarians, and other pastoral…

Pope Francis opened two new laundromats for the homeless in the northern Italian city of Turin on November 2.  The new facilities are part of an initiative launched in collaboration with the international consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble and the consumer electronics company Haier Europe, with the assistance of the Community of Sant’Egidio and…

Arlington, Virginia, Bishop Michael Burbidge is urging Catholics to “reflect on the faithful witness” of Black Catholics during the Church’s annual Black Catholic History Month observed in November. The Virginia bishop said in a statement on his diocese’s website that the month is “an important time” to review “the critical roles” that Black Catholics play in the…

Imagine the scene: The alarm clock starts beeping and it’s 4 a.m. Basketball practice starts in an hour. It’s time for a group of bleary-eyed young men to grab their gear, meet their teammates, and begin a one-mile uphill jog in the middle of New England’s freezing weather to the basketball facility.  Once inside the…

The Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton, California, was vandalized on the morning of November 5 with white paint splattered across the church’s signs and front doors, with law enforcement currently investigating if the vandalism constituted a hate crime against the church. Stockton police described the vandalism as “white paint randomly applied to the front…