Last Thursday Chris Bishop MP asked the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment about people sleeping in cars. It’s almost impossible to know, exactly, how many people sleep in cars. “None”, would be the best answer. But this isn’t a “best answer” world. One measure is how many people on the Housing Register (essentially Read more
Since he was elected in 2013, Pope Francis has been remaking the College of Cardinals in preparation for the next conclave that will elect his successor. He has made the college more international, less European, less curial, more pastoral and less ideological. Like every pope before him, Francis has been looking for men who reflect Read more
Earlier this month, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez as prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith. The archbishop, an Argentine, had been since 2018 the Archbishop of La Plata, and was before that the rector of Argentina’s Catholic University — a role to which he was appointed by then-Cardinal Jorge Read more
In the end, our story, our legacy, is crafted not in isolation, but in the crucible of community, family, and relationships. We live for stories. Favorite TV shows and movies, prized comics, bedtime harangues, hoary old fairy tales, crooned lullabies, beloved novels and well-thumbed picture books; these are often among our first and most deeply Read more
The appointment of Hong Kong’s Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan as a Cardinal a little over a year and a half after he began his Episcopal ministry in the city is yet another sign of Pope Francis’ devotion to Asia and to China in particular. It is also a sign of the Holy Father’s commitment to Read more
I understand Christianity because Jesus was especially concerned with people on the margins of society. The sick, the poor, and the outcasts were high on his priority list. Thus, churches (being the extension of Jesus’ ministry), should focus their efforts on those exact same people. But the data says that is not happening. Just the Read more
The fracture between the French state and youth in impoverished neighbourhoods around the nation’s largest cities has led to widespread violence in recent days. Religious leaders and institutions are trying to respond after thousands of young people, many the children or grandchildren of North African immigrants who first came to France in large numbers in Read more
The 2023 assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which takes place from October 4-29 in Rome, will be the most important Catholic Church gathering since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). A consistory will precede it on September 30 when Pope Francis is to create twenty-one new cardinals. Both events are indicative of how high the Read more
Global temperature rises took off in the mid-1970s when the rise in global mean surface temperature exceeded natural variability. Every decade after the 1960s has been warmer than the one before and the 2010s were the warmest on record. But there can be a lot of variability from one year to the next. Now, in Read more
The narrative of the “The Parable of the Sower” draws our attention to the varying types of ground upon which the seed falls. The type of ground prompts introspection: which parts of me are rocky, shallow, or overrun with thorns? However, suddenly, I find myself at the centre of the narrative. I recommend reading verses Read more