IMF Emergency COVID Funds Withheld From Afghanistan

The International Monetary Fund on Aug. 23 withheld $455 million in emergency COVID-19 relief funding from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s takeover of the country forced the organization to withhold its recognition of the Afghan government.

Caritas Pakistan Plans for Humanitarian Crisis at Afghanistan Border

Caritas Pakistan has alerted its diocesan units bordering neighboring Afghanistan to help refugees fleeing the Taliban’s takeover of the country, reported ucanews.com. Thousands of Afghans have entered Pakistan via the Chaman border crossing, one of the most active trade and travel routes between the countries, according to media reports.

We All Seek a Peace That God Alone Can Give

This month, as we commemorate a quest for peace, we put out into the deep recesses of our own souls where sometimes personal peace becomes elusive to us. We seek a peace that God alone can give. As the old saying goes, however, peace must begin with us. And so, as we look towards the last weeks of August, when we have some time to relax and think more deeply, join me in prayer to see how we each can further the cause of peace in the world.

U.S. Bishops Urge Quick Action on Relocating Afghan Refugees

The U.S. bishops’ conference emphasized the need for the U.S. government to work quickly to achieve its goal of relocating 30,000 special immigrant visa applicants from Afghanistan because it’s a “monumental task that hangs in the balance.”

Catholic Agency Helps Resettle Afghan Translators Who Aided U.S. Forces

When U.S. service members were in a foreign land, unsure of the way and unable to speak the language, brave locals came to their assistance. Now, the Afghans who served as interpreters and guides for the U.S. military need help adjusting to a new country. Six diocesan Catholic Charities staffers have been working with the new arrivals at Fort Lee, including Hekmatullah Latifi, who came to the United States with his wife and children on a special immigrant visa in 2016.