Haitian bishop asks kidnappers of missionaries to “show some humanity” (Crux) After the kidnapping of 17 American and Canadian missionaries in Haiti earlier this week, one of the country’s bishops has issued a direct appeal to the abductors, asking them to show mercy and saying they will have to answer for their actions before God…
Gangs in Haiti targeting the church (The New York Times) At least 40 church members, both Haitian and foreign, have been kidnapped since the beginning of the year, according to Gèdèon Jean, the executive director of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, an advocacy group in Port-au-Prince. “The Christian church is in the eye of the kidnapping storm,” Mr. Jean said…
Patriarch released from hospital, set to meet Biden (VOA) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, was released from a Washington hospital Monday morning after an overnight stay early in his 12-day visit to the United States. Bartholomew, 81, was scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden later Monday at the White House, and also to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken…
Pope appoints Jeffrey Sachs to Pontifical Academy (CNA) Pope Francis on Monday appointed the economist Jeffrey Sachs to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. The Holy See press office said on Oct. 25 that the pope had named Sachs as an “ordinary member” of the academy founded in 1994 by Pope John Paul II to promote the study and progress of the social sciences. Sachs, the director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University in New York, has been a frequent visitor to the Vatican in recent years…
Queens Catholic school teacher fired from his job for marrying a man (Newsweek) A Catholic school teacher has been fired from his job after the Brooklyn Diocese determined he had violated “Catholic doctrine and morality” by marrying a man. As first reported by the New York Daily News, Matthew LaBanca was simultaneously let go from his roles as a music teacher at St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy in Astoria and music director at Corpus Christi church on October 13 after Diocese officials learned he had married his husband, Rowan, on August 1…
