Cameroon church leaders urge return to school despite carnage of war
YAOUNDÈ, Cameroon – Church leaders in Cameroon’s war-ravaged English-speaking regions have launched a campaign for children to go back to school, as the Central African country prepares for the start of the 2023-2024 academic year on September 4. The campaign, dubbed “Stronger & Better Together- Back to School Message from Religious Leaders,” challenges parents to […]
Church and state in Ukraine blast Pope for praising ‘great Mother Russia’
ROME – In the latest expression of Ukrainian irritation with Pope Francis’s efforts to be even-handed with regard to Russia’s ongoing invasion, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has accused the pontiff of trafficking in “imperialist propaganda” during a recent video address to Russian youth. The pope spoke to a gathering of Catholic youth in […]
Pope warns that for some U.S. Catholics, ideology has replaced faith
ROME – In a wide-ranging conversation with Jesuits in Portugal during his visit to Lisbon earlier this month for World Youth Day, Pope Francis touched on several hot-button topics, including criticism of his papacy among US Catholics, outreach to the LGBTQ+ community, and problems of chastity among clergy. In a private Aug. 5 meeting with […]
Who is really trying to replace doctrine with ideology?
“There you go again.” — Ronald Reagan, 1980 Pope Francis, addressing a group of Jesuits recently, said: “When you abandon doctrine in life to replace it with an ideology, you have lost, you have lost […]
What’s missing in the ‘Star Wars’ universe?
When “Star Wars” debuted in 1977, I was a young adult and I thank God for that. If I had been 12 years old, I probably would have turned into one of those people who dress up as Emperor Palpatine and show up at conventions to compete with fans as to who can name all […]
In South Sudan’s nightmare, pope gives them a flicker of hope
ROME — In a sense, the nation of South Sudan was born on the back of the Catholic Church. Roughly half of the country’s population of around 12 million is believed to be Catholic, President Salva Kiir is a Catholic who spearheaded the secessionist movement, and, in a country where only 1 in 4 people […]
If It’s Just a Symbol, to Hell with It
The great Catholic novelist, Flannery O’Connor, was admirably blunt. She once attended a party where non-Catholics discussed the Eucharist. Her host said that the Eucharist was a very good symbol but that was all it was. O’Connor famously replied, “Well, if it’s just a symbol, to hell with it.” O’Connor’s objection was not that symbolism […]