With Israel and Hamas still unable to reach a deal to free hostages and halt their war, Catholic leaders in the northwest United States are calling for an agreement between the sides, as well as for them to negotiate a two-state solution for lasting peace.
A cohort of Japanese and U.S. Catholic bishops have applauded this week’s meeting of nations that have formally joined the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as “another historic step on the journey toward hope, toward the light, toward a world free of nuclear weapons.”
On the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, a cohort of Japanese and U.S. Catholic bishops announced a new initiative to promote the realization of a world without nuclear weapons, focusing on past acts, the present reality, and building a culture of peace.
When The Tablet asked Bishop Chad Zielinski some months ago what it takes to lead the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, he explained that it takes a missionary zeal to embrace a different culture, along with the stamina to travel 65% of the time, live out of duffel bags, sleep on church floors, and travel between villages via snowmobiles, boats, and four-wheelers.
After the Washington state House of Representatives failed to pass an amendment to a bill that would require clergy to violate the seal of confession, Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane reminded legislators that throughout history “all” such attempts by “kings, queens, dictators, potentates, and legislators” have failed, and that even if it passed, clergy wouldn’t capitulate.
