Federal judge issues injunction over military COVID vaccine mandate

A federal judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration and the Department of Defense over their apparent refusal to grant several Christian Navy SEALS religious accommodations to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued the injunction, which prevents the Department […]

Vatican newspaper remembers Jan. 6 siege as attack on U.S. democracy

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, “represented a direct blow to the heart of American democracy,” the Vatican newspaper said. Marking the first anniversary of the storming of the Capitol, the newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, explained to readers, “The attack on the Capitol was the degenerated development of the […]

Interfaith Worker Justice closes, to give resources to Georgetown arm

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Interfaith Worker Justice announced Dec. 31 that it was shutting down at the end of that day. The announcement came from Kim Bobo, who founded the organization in 1996. “It’s sad,” Bobo told Catholic News Service in a Jan. 4 telephone interview. Interfaith Worker Justice’s archives and resources will be transferred to […]

China forbids foreigners from spreading religious content online

In the U.S.-China rivalry that involves a complex mix of diplomacy, trade wars and sanctions, religion has come under increased pressure after the communist regime banned online propagation of religion by foreign nationals, purportedly to make religion more Chinese-oriented. On Dec. 22, the Chinese government issued a new norm that proscribes all foreign institutions and […]

Jesuit who stood up to Paraguayan dictator dies

After a life in Paraguay working in the poorest neighborhoods and training several generations of young leaders, Jesuit Father Francisco de Paula Oliva died Jan. 3 in Asunción. He was 93. The Spanish-born Jesuit lived through the revolution in Nicaragua. He fought with words in the media against Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner and the Colorado […]

Pope Francis: Society loses when ‘dogs and cats take the place of children’

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that it is a civilizational loss when dogs and cats replace children in society, encouraging couples to “take the risk” to become parents. “The other day, I was talking about the demographic winter that we have today … many couples do not have children because they do not want to, […]