The United States Catholic bishops’ (USCCB) investment strategies are at odds with its passionate climate advocacy. In a statement at COP28, the USCCB committee called decarbonisation of the economy the “preeminent environmental challenge faced by all nations” that must be addressed without burdening middle-and low-income citizens with increased costs. However, according to Reuters, the US Read more
Sometimes, a question in an interview can be thrown with a backward spin. Recently, I was asked, “What do you say to people who claim that religion is the cause of war?” The answer to that was easy. “Religion doesn’t cause war unless it is corrupted by politics.” Much later, I thought we had missed Read more
Church leaders including Pope Francis and the Syrian Patriarchs are condemning last weekend’s airstrikes by the United States (US), Britain and France. War planes and ships launched over 100 missiles at three chemical weapons storage and research facilities near Damascus and Homs. The airstrikes sought to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a suspected chemical attack Read more
Callista Gingrich is the United States’ new ambassador-designate to Rome, according to a statement from the US Embassy to the Holy See. The Senate confirmed her election with a vote of 70-23. News sources say Gingrich is a practising Catholic. She is the third wife of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich who is Read more
Rather than North Korea and the United States (US) risking a nuclear war, Pope Francis suggests a third party could help them find a way to cool off before a good part of humanity is destroyed. During an in-flight press conference following his visit to Egypt, Francis suggested Norway as a possible mediator. “It (Norway) Read more
On November 8, 60% of voters identifying themselves as Catholic cast their votes for the now president-elect, Donald J. Trump. White born-again or Evangelical Christians supported Trump even more strongly, with 81% of their vote. It has been a long, contentious campaign, with historically low levels of trust and personal likability for both major party Read more
There are times when, as a politician, you have to hold your nose, to smile politely and get on with it. Yesterday, in New Zealand’s parliament, was supposed to be one of those times. My Green party colleagues and I were asked to support a government motion to congratulate Donald Trump on winning the US Read more
Hate crimes are increasing in the US. While racial attacks make up the majority of these crimes, American Jews and Muslims are the targets of an explosion in crimes against religion, according to the FBI’s new 2015 Hate Crime Statistics report. Each year the report collates hate crime statistics from law enforcement agencies across the Read more
Some of you noticed that I sat out the presidential election this year. It was only partly intentional. In the first place, “I was for her” and I figured the world had already come to that conclusion themselves without my writing a column to confirm it. I didn’t want that kind of bias to seep Read more
President Obama says the United States has a “profound moral and humanitarian obligation” to support efforts to clear bombs its forces dropped on Laos during the Vietnam War. Eighty million cluster munitions did not explode, instead settling on farmland and around villages, only to later kill or injure 20,000 people. Obama spoke of that legacy Read more