When he pulls back from the table, it is wet from his tears. It isn’t like he is sobbing. The tears just fall silently. Salvo, the name of this 30-something man who signed up for confession at the prison where I serve as a chaplain, kept on speaking. I wasn’t sure whether he was talking Read more
As long as there has been a war in Ukraine people have called for peace. Some propose peace simply defined as a halt to the fighting. They cite the suffering: More than 300,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded, thousands of civilians have been killed, and more than nine million Ukrainians have Read more
In the warring empire of the potentate, Vladimir Putin and the pontiff Patriarch Kirill, a priest who prays for peace is a perjurer. He condemns himself to be treated as an apostate, the religious equivalent of a political traitor. This is the extent to which Russia will go in silencing those within the Orthodox Church Read more
A grey and drizzly Rome was under an intense security lockdown on Saturday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came to town for the day. The Italian government deployed some 1,500 security agents, stationed snipers on rooftops, and enforced a no-fly zone for the visit of the president whose country continues to fight the troops from Read more
When Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky went to the Vatican last week, the Pope stole a march on him. Francis went to the door to greet him rather than wait for formal introductions. They spent 40 minutes speaking privately in their first face-to-face meeting since the war began. They discussed “the humanitarian and political situation in Read more
Pope Francis, on returning from Bahrain, shared his thoughts on many of the world’s current human-made tragedies – including today’s numerous armed conflicts. He said the conflicts reminded him of the World War II Allied military landings at Normandy, France. “It was the beginning of the fall of Nazism, it’s true. “But how many boys Read more
The Pope’s 39th Apostolic Journey was to Bahrain last week. It was his first visit to Bahrain and second to the Gulf. He was aiming to further solidify his outreach to the Muslim community and to offer support to Bahrain’s small Christian minority. Pope Francis and the King Francis’s first official engagement was a courtesy Read more
The national memorial for conscientious objectors is a welcome addition to the steps above George St and Albany St, Dunedin. Since the official opening of the Archibald Baxter Peace Garden on October 29, 2021, the site has quickly established itself as an important national and local landmark. The central feature in the garden is a Read more
If girls education makes societies stronger, more peaceful and prosperous, then the chances of Asia achieving those goals have become more distant with the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, girls’ enrollments in school had seen significant improvements in Asia. But with the pandemic, those gains have been wiped out. UNESCO estimates that about 24 Read more
On the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi in 1965, in the middle of a historic visit to New York City, Pope Paul VI ascended the rostrum before the United Nations General Assembly and summoned the world to peace. The visit came two and a half years after John XXIII’s Pacem in terris refashioned the Read more