As Catholics, part of our mission is in loving others as God love us. As parents, our vocation to love is close by the lives of our children, spouses, and our families both near and far. Pope Francis has had much to say about love and care for the marginalized over the years in […]
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Rocker Stevie Nicks revealed her confusion to think that sex, drugs and rock and roll were greater than her baby. She ended her child’s life in 1979 while dating Don Henley of The Eagles. “There’s just no way that I could have had a child then, working as hard as […]
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid,” (John 14:27). Within those words of comfort is the key: not as the world gives. And so with the assurance of our faith, […]
St. Raymond Nonnatus is a saint from the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy or the Mercedarian Order and was born in 1204 in Barcelona, Spain. He is called Nonnatus or “not born” referring to his Caesarean section birth. Since his mother died while giving birth to him, Nonnatus is the patron saint […]
This story happened in our family twenty years ago, but lives on today as a lasting sign of just how powerful our God is. “Dad, may I just peek inside?” ten-year-old Luke Armstrong asked holding a cardboard box. “Wait until we get home,” his dad, Mark, answered. “We’re almost there. I don’t want a bunch […]
The U.S. International Agency for International Development (USAID) just gave a hefty grant to CARE, a global aid organization that is working to undermine the administration’s pro-life policies and to insert abortion into humanitarian situations worldwide. While CARE trades on its neutrality on the issue of abortion to maintain U.S. funding, it also openly promotes, […]
This past Sunday morning on our way to the airport, I was dropping off my husband, a pilot for work. We had just finished saying the Rosary and were rounding the large loop about a mile from the airport, when we noticed a car off to the side of the road. The hood was up […]
MANY PEOPLE in the Ukraine are destitute, especially older people and families. The armed conflict taking place in the eastern part of the country also continues to claim victims. The suffering Church receives both pastoral and material aid. Nonetheless, the Church should not get so wrapped up in its charitable commitments that it forgets that […]
When one looks at the liturgical calendar, one sees a message the Church is attempting to instill within us. Right after we erupt with jubilation over the birth of Christ, we meditate over the first martyr, St. Stephen. He reminds us that this joy has a price, and that price is higher than we could […]
THE NUNCIO in Colombia described the Pope’s Sept. 6-10, 2017 trip to Colombia as “the visit of a friend.” That means, explained Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, that the Pope, “like all friends of the Colombians, will ask some searching questions: What are you doing with your life? Are you really happy? What is the meaning of […]
By Josue Villalón St. LOUIS HOSPITAL, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, is located in the city district of Ismailie, in the western part of Aleppo. It is one of the few medical facilities that was left standing in the northern Syrian metropolis after bomb attacks on the city came to […]
Conservative human rights groups are increasingly alarmed about a new funding proposal to combat human trafficking around the world. They are concerned also about the groups that seem to have gotten the ear of the White House, specifically Ivanka Trump, who appears to be quarterbacking the White House position. The immediate issue is the End […]
In today’s society we are all about acceptance of diversity. We take great pains to show how well we accept others of different races, religions, and sexual preferences. We do this by holding social events, arts showcases, sporting events, and TV programs and even enforcing acceptance by law. I appreciate the culture of acceptance and […]
By Archbishop Samir Nassar An apocalypse In six years of war the face of Syria has been completely transformed. A large wasteland of ruins, pulverized buildings, burned out homes, neighborhoods turned into ghost towns, villages razed to the ground … and more than 12 million Syrians (half the population) don’t have roofs over their heads […]
By Jacques Berset WHEN the Missionary Sisters of Jesus, Verbo y Víctima from Peru arrived toward the end of the 20th century, it caused a veritable sensation in the rural enclaves of Virgen del Carmelo de Villa Ygatimy, a sprawling community northeast of Paraguay’s capital of Asunción. Today, the sisters serve some 20,000 faithful through […]
By Maria Lozano NEW YORK—“Hope is coming back to the Nineveh plains!” That is the verdict of the Middle East expert of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the international Catholic charity. Just back from a fact-finding mission to the region in northern Iraq recently liberated from the grip of ISIS, Father Andrzej Halemba […]
By Jaco Klamer Late last year, Ismail fled Mosul with his mother Jandark Behnam Mansour Nassi (55), the two having survived ISIS’ reign of terror for two years. From the safety of Erbil, Kurdistan, the Iraqi Christians, former residents of the town of Bartella, on the Nineveh plain, told their story to international Catholic charity […]
By Father Ziad Hilal, S.J. ALEPPO, Syria–For the past few days, Aleppo city has been breathing sighs of relief. Since the rebels reached an agreement with the regime forces and its allies to evacuate all civilians and militants from their last stronghold in east Aleppo city, there finally can be some peace. From the very […]
The following report is written by an Aleppo-based Jesuit priest, who preferred to remain anonymous. Dec. 8, 2016 In the last few days the news has come in thick and fast. The government forces have been retaking the zones that it has lost control of ever since 2012. The people here are hoping this military […]
On November 10, the Conseil d’Etat ruled it “inappropriate” to show happy children with Down syndrome on TV, as that sight could “trouble” women who chose not to give birth to their disabled children. With this pronouncement, the French judges upheld a previous decision by the CSA (“Conseil Supérieur de l’audiovisuel” – equivalent of the […]
A three-year campaign to have the General Assembly endorse “comprehensive sexuality education” programming fizzled out during negotiations this year. Sponsors of the annual General Assembly resolution on the “Rights of the Child” did not include “comprehensive sexuality education” in the draft resolution that is being considered for adoption, resulting in a kind of ceasefire on […]
I found myself traveling with nothing to read, so I wandered over to the airport kiosk to find something to occupy me for a few hours. Having a small mountain of unread books at home, I couldn’t justify another, so it had to be a magazine, and who can resist National Geographic? The cover was […]
By Maria Lozano NEW YORK—In an eerie reminder of the ISIS has had in recruiting foreign fighters, provocative graffiti in German was found on the wall of a chapel during an inspection of the small town of Batnaya, on the Nineveh Plane. The small town, just 10 miles from Mosul, was recently recaptured from ISIS. […]
The world’s most powerful family planning groups announced a “contraceptive crisis,” calling for more funding and “sounding the alarm over the unmet contraceptive needs of hundreds of millions of people.” A look at their latest report, however, shows the opposite: a glut of contraception in a world where unsatisfied demand has sharply fallen. The group, […]
