Hours after the Biden administration’s COVID-19 relief plan passed Wednesday, several U.S. Bishops Conference chairmen called it “unconscionable” that the bill didn’t include protections against taxpayer funding of abortion.
Author: John Lavenburg
COVID-19 Pandemic Makes Human Trafficking Worse, Panel Says
Flor Molina crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with her trafficker in 2002. At the time, she was under the impression the trip would last six months, provide housing, and enough money to return to Mexico to open a sewing shop and provide for her three children.
Iraqis Still Need Our Help, Says Aid to the Church in Need Assistant
From his experience in Iraq in 2018, Monsignor Kieran Harrington doesn’t look at one stop, or moment, from Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq as most significant. Rather, it’s the fact that the Holy Father was there in the first place.
As Texas and Mississippi Lift COVID Restrictions, Bishops Voice Caution
Catholic prelates in Texas and Mississippi will, for the most part, maintain COVID-19 precautions at their parishes despite recent announcements from each state’s governors that restrictions will ease.
15 Years of Turmoil in Puerto Rico
In 2006, Puerto Rico’s economy entered a recession. A key factor was the United States federal government phased out a provision of the Puerto Rican tax code that gave U.S. corporations in Puerto Rico tax exemptions. The move prompted companies to move out of Puerto Rico and cost thousands of Puerto Ricans their jobs.
Puerto Rico Tries to Recover and Rebuild After Years of Disasters, Financial Hardship
Father Enrique Camacho has lived with his parents in San Juan, Puerto Rico, since 2017. He moved there after Hurricane Maria destroyed the parish house where he lived. And like much of the island, it still hasn’t been rebuilt. Hurricane Maria came two weeks after Hurricane Irma devastated much of Puerto Rico.
Papal Visit to ‘Shine a Light’ on Plight of Christian Iraqis, U.S. Religious Freedom Commissioner Says
Ever since Iraq’s liberation from the Islamic State group in 2017, Nadine Maenza has noticed the world continues to pay less and less attention to the plight of the country’s Christians and other religious minorities.
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Raises Ethical Concerns
Several Catholic ethicists are urging people to steer clear of the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine if possible, but at the same time affirm it is morally acceptable to receive it if the alternatives are not an option.
Panelists Urge Respect for Human Dignity as Nation Tackles Poverty
Lorena Melgarejo remembers a time after her husband died that she couldn’t always be there for her three-year-old child because she couldn’t lose her income.
Black Religious Orders Broke Racial Barriers in America
When it comes to the earliest orders of Black Catholic religious sisters in the United States, Shannen Dee Williams wants people to recognize something she considers overlooked — the perseverance, struggle, and commitment to God they put forth to make religious life possible for black women and girls.