Rakhine State in western Myanmar is in crisis rights groups say as thousands of largely stateless Rohingya Muslims attempt to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, while others are agitating for dangerous boat trips to Malaysia amid reports of villages being razed and gang rapes by Myanmar’s military. At least 5,000 Rohingya have fled the religiously and Read more
Discontent is growing in western democracies as evidenced by Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the rise of populism. Christine Lagarde, director-general of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shares her views with La Croix. Globalization, which is often presented as a positive phenomenon is awakening growing concern, indeed rejection. Why didn’t anyone foresee this turn Read more
ROME-On the night of October 11, 1962, thousands of people made their way to St. Peter’s Square to celebrate the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, called for by St. Pope John XXIII. Unable to ignore the crowd, and before “off-the-cuff” remarks were simply what popes did, he improvised the most famous speech of his Read more
Newly released last week, to muted publicity, was a comprehensive, reliable and rigorous Cochrane review of studies reviewing school-based interventions on sex education. This was a large review, combining peer-reviewed data from more than 55,000 young people from around the world. Cochrane reviews are internationally recognized as the highest standard in evidence-based health care resources. Read more
Charles de Foucauld is the figure who teaches Catholics about the true nature of Christian martyrdom, too often distorted into a “persecutionism” ideology. Brother Michael Davide Semeraro, a Benedictine monk and spiritual teacher, looks at the experience of the “Little Brother” and his legacy, from an original perspective, 100 years on from his death. As Read more
For years, poker machine addicts have been held accountable for their problem gambling. But new research reveals that it is in fact the machine’s manufacturers who should take responsibility for player addiction to the pokies. In days gone by, for many families, a lunch at the local club wasn’t complete until the adult diners had Read more
“The notion of obligations comes before that of rights, which is subordinate and relative to the former,” wrote the great French philosopher Simone Weil shortly before her untimely and patriotic death as she contemplated the crucial difference between our rights and our obligations. “A right is not effectual by itself, but only in relation to Read more
Last week, for the first time in its history of nearly 2,000 years, the tomb (sepulchre) of Jesus was examined by archaeologists and conservationists. Never before has it been subject to scientific scrutiny. These men of science, accompanied by a group of selected priests and monks, were surprised by what they saw. Despite centuries of Read more
The Jesuit-educated Fidel Castro rejected the Church of his childhood following the 1959 Cuban revolution, and for two decades never met a bishop. But then came a book-long interview with a Brazilian friar, and growing closeness between Church and state in Cuba — as well as tantalizing signs that Castro was seeking reconciliation with his Read more
Pope Francis’ first interview with an Italian television channel was granted to TV2000 and InBlu Radio, the Italian Episcopal Conference’s broadcasters. In a 40-minute question and answer session, the Pope speaks to web and news directors Paolo Ruffini and Lucio Brunelli, about his reflections on the fruits of the Extraordinary Holy Year, which he describes Read more