Nukes won’t save the world. They are “a force for instability and any claims they promote peace are chasing illusions,” Archbishop Paul Gallagher told a United Nations conference on Friday. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, urged nations to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) which the Vatican signed in 1996. “Nuclear arms offer Read more
Pope Francis condemned “verbal and physical violence towards women” and called for “respect” for them at a Mass he was celebrating during his visit to Columbia last week. Colombia’s mainly Catholic population is known for its macho culture and high levels of gender violence. During his homily that was repeatedly interrupted by applause, Francis asked Read more
As sexual assault cases against the Archdiocese of Agãna continue to increase, it appears that the Vatican has found itself in trouble with the United Nations. In 2014, the Vatican was summoned to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child committee. It was asked to take concrete steps to remedy decades of institutional Read more
The Vatican’s former representative to the United Nations says Pope Francis is closely following the situation between the United States and North Korea. The two countries are trading insults, with North Korea threatening to send four missiles into the sea off Guam, as a response to President Donald Trump’s escalating rhetoric. “The only way forth Read more
Pope Francis says hunger is caused by “the indifference of many and the selfishness of a few”. Saying much can be done to help change this, Francis sent a message on Monday to participants in the 40th General Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations who were meeting in Rome. He Read more
A woman with Down Syndrome and autism received a five minute standing ovation after her passionate right to life speech to the Human Rights Committee at the United Nations (U.N). Charlotte (Charlie) Helene Fien, who is 21, wrote her speech after watching a television documentary called ‘A world without Down Syndrome’. The documentary discussed a Read more
United Nations new Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s appointment is not everyone’s choice. The ninth man to lead the UN in its 71-year history has drawn opposition from gay rights and women’s groups. Guterres will replace Ban Ki-moon when he retires at the end of December. The devout Catholic is against abortion, marriage equality and gay Read more
Refugees and migrants will have to wait for the United Nations (U.N.) to ratify a draft international agreement to help settle their plight. At present, more people are forcibly displaced from their homes than at any time since the Second World War ended. But their circumstances are so politically contentious that after days of intense Read more
The stink is unbearable, garbage is strewn everywhere and clean water is at a premium. But the old movie theater in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh is nevertheless home to Ngong Theavy, a young mother of three. And it is one she shares. Hundreds of people live in the old cinema building, which has Read more
The UN says 65.3 million people were displaced last year by conflict and persecution, a new high. One person in 113 was displaced from her home in 2015 by conflict and persecution and is now an asylum-seeker, internally displaced or a refugee, the UN refugee agency says Monday in a new report. In all, the Read more