Faith leaders ask Congress to increase overseas pandemic aid (CNS) Three dozen faith-based organizations, including Catholic Relief Services, have asked Congress to immediately fund efforts to respond to the coronavirus pandemic around the world. “If we don’t beat COVID-19 everywhere, we can’t beat it anywhere,” CRS said in a news release publicizing the letter sent July 1…
Mourners pay respects to Georg Ratzinger (Reuters) The brother of former Pope Benedict XVI lay in state in his hometown of Regensburg, Germany on Tuesday, visited by socially-distanced mourners wanting to pay respects to the cleric and choirmaster, who died last week at the age of 96…
LA Religious Ed Congress to go virtual in 2021 because of pandemic (NCR) Organizers of the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the largest annual gathering of Catholics in the United States, have suspended plans for an in-person gathering in 2021 and will instead host a virtual meeting next year. In an internal email obtained by NCR, the event’s organizer said the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the event online due to safety concerns…
Damascus priest: ‘Don’t forget the suffering people of Syria’ (Vatican News) The website of the Franciscan Convent in Damascus’ Bab Touma area features a desperate appeal for help for the people of the city struck by conflict and economic downturn…
Commentary: how partisanship is ‘weakening the Gospel witness’ in America (OSV) Sadly, I can honestly say that I learned more about racism in my time as a punk rock atheist than I ever did as a Catholic. And while my personal story is unique to me, unfortunately, my experience’s broad brush strokes are far from rare among Christians in this country…
