The Australian royal commission is over, but there is still a long way for us to travel so that we might stand together in solidarity committed to justice, truth and healing for all, for the living and for the dead. We are unlikely as a Church or as a society to get this right for Read more
Travel clears the head, offering a new perspective on some of our troubled U.S. institutions. In this case a visit to New Zealand made me ponder our US criminal justice system, too often dominated by punitive retributive thinking. A tall Maori man, with a heavy build, stood in the criminals’ box in Blenheim, New Zealand, Read more
Loving wealth destroys the soul, and cheating workers of their just wages and benefits is a mortal sin, Pope Francis said. Jesus did not mince words when he said, “Woe to you who are rich,” after listing the Beatitudes as written according to St. Luke, the pope said in a morning homily. If anyone today Read more
Ignoring Bashar al-Assad’s crimes will not lead to peace. Mazen Darwish, who is a Syrian lawyer and Director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, says Assad’s victims deserve justice. “To deny them justice is to make a mockery of all that they have suffered. We must realize the extent of what’s Read more
On Monday, Philippine authorities arrested and detained a 71-year-old Australian nun because she had allegedly violated the conditions of her visa by engaging in illegal political activities. There is a possibility that she will be deported as an “undesirable alien”. Sister Patricia Fox, Philippine superior of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion, was arrested at Read more
Churches must be ready to challenge village councils when leaders act unjustly says the Archbishop of Suva Peter Loy Chong. He was speaking after a Justice and Development Commission Seminar entitled “Reading the Signs of the Times in Fiji – Catholic Social Teaching and Socio-Political Issues”. “There are times when the church will tell village Read more
The seven women bishops of the Provinces of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia and the Anglican Church of Australia met last month to focus on issues of gender justice and women’s leadership in the Anglican Communion. It is the first time the women bishops, who have served in the Anglican Episcopate Read more
Pope Francis will return to Assisi next month for the closing day of a gathering of religious leaders, aimed at promoting dialogue and peace. It will be his second visit to the birthplace of his namesake in two months, after his ‘private pilgrimage’to Assisi’s Porziuncula Chapel on 4 August. The upcoming visit will form part Read more
Pope Francis’s council of nine cardinals has formally presented the Pontiff with their final proposals to set up two major new offices in the Roman Curia. The two new Vatican offices proposed are “Laity, Family and Life” and “Justice, Peace and Migration”. Pope Francis will make the final decision on these proposals. The cardinals are Read more
We have heard a lot about (the new) mercy during the past months, and with respect to the (sometimes strange and surprising) topics discussed at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family. The remarks of some of the participants in the debates gave the impression that the insistence on truth—and on justice based on truth—is indicative Read more