A new national survey shows students in the United States are still struggling to make up learning loss experienced over the course of the COVID-19 crisis. The report this week from NWEA examined test scores from nearly 7 million elementary and middle school students in about 20,000 public schools around the US. The researchers found Read more
News Shorts
New survey shows Catholic Church as most credible institution in Nicaragua
Monday, July 17th, 2023The market researcher CID Gallup of Costa Rica has, in a new survey, listed the Catholic Church in Nicaragua as the most credible institution in that country despite being subjected to harassment and persecution by the Daniel Ortega regime. The survey commissioned by the Nicaraguan media outlet Confidencial showed that 48% of respondents consider the Read more
Two burnt-out French bishops voluntarily become auxiliaries
Thursday, July 13th, 2023Citing exhaustion from a demanding job, two French bishops have voluntarily been demoted to auxiliary bishop status in the latest sign of serious strains in the country’s episcopacy. Bishop Thierry Brac de la Perrière, 64, will move “to a less onerous and less exposed ministry” in his east-central home archdiocese of Lyon from Nevers in Read more
Study: Most women don’t want abortion
Thursday, July 13th, 2023Pro-abortion advocates like to frame their position as “pro-choice,” as if women can easily decide whether or not they want to have an abortion. But for many women who go through with abortion, the decision wasn’t really their choice at all, according to a new study. A peer-reviewed study by the anti-abortion Charlotte Lozier Institute Read more
‘Worst it’s ever been’ – KidsCan says need for families, children at all-time high
Thursday, July 13th, 2023An Auckland mother says the struggle to provide her kids with the most basic items such as food and clothing is taking a toll on her mental health. As food inflation hits a 36-year high and fuel costs go back up, working families are having to juggle between bills, while kids are going to school Read more
How the Irish Church is working to understand ‘synodality’
Thursday, July 13th, 2023A lack of understanding around the various elements of synodality is hindering the development of a synodal church, according to new research. Plans are underway for a second national assembly at the end of the year as part of the Irish Church’s next step in its National Synodal Pathway. Julieann Moran, general secretary of the Read more
When U2’s The Edge became the first rock star to play in the Sistine Chapel
Thursday, July 13th, 2023The Edge became the first rock star to ever play in the Sistine Chapel in Rome in April 2016. Backed by a group of Irish student singers, The Edge covered Leonard Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will” along with “Yahweh” and “Ordinary Love.” The Irish rocker even dedicated his performance of U2’s “Walk On” to Read more
St Gerard’s Church altar given to Sacred Heart Cathedral
Monday, July 10th, 2023
The altar from St Gerard’s Church in Wellington has found a new home at the city’s Catholic Sacred Heart Cathedral. St Gerard’s – a distinctive, category one, heritage-listed church and monastery building – was sold for almost $17 million to a secret buyer earlier this year. Since the sale, St Gerard’s former owner, the Institute Read more
Pope creates commission to identify modern-day martyrs
Monday, July 10th, 2023A quarter of a century after John Paul II held an ecumenical celebration during the Great Jubilee of 2000 to honour Christian martyrs, Pope Francis has decided to update the work of his Polish predecessor by compiling a new martyrology of Christians of all denominations. The Vatican announced on July 5 that the 86-year-old pope Read more
Bishop Alvarez back in prison after talks with Nicaraguan dictatorship break down
Monday, July 10th, 2023Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos was sent back to prison on Wednesday after negotiations between the Nicaraguan bishops and the government of dictator Daniel Ortega broke down, Nicaraguan news sources reported. According to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner, Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa in Managua, was released on Monday but Read more