via Vatican News: “Today – he said – the current economic crisis unfortunately fosters attitudes of closure instead of welcome.” “In some parts of the world walls and barriers are being built. It appears that the silent work of men and women who, in different ways, do what they can to help and assist refugees… Read More Pope Francis: The Only Solution to the Migration Crisis is Solidarity

It was a beautiful day. Too nice, if you ask me, for early November in the upper Midwest, but nice nonetheless. US Highway 52 winds north along the west side of the Mississippi River, crisscrossing northeastern Iowa’s rolling hills and the driftless region of southeastern Minnesota. It was the deer opener, so there were plenty… Read More Catholics Down the Road, But a World Apart

Debates are swirling about what the appropriate response is to the election of the willfully ignorant, sexual assaulting, fascist coddling president-elect. The two most compelling arguments I’ve seen argue that our first responsibility is to fight for our democracy and resist reactionary attacks on our institutions and most cherished values. In the Washington Post, I… Read More How to Respond to Trump? Fight for Democracy

via Vatican Radio: Pope Francis on Friday welcomed to Rome more than 6000 people, men and women from various European nations, who have lived, or are even now, living on the street. The Jubilee for Socially Excluded Persons embraced not only the homeless, but also disadvantaged persons and people living in poverty…. All men and… Read More Pope Welcomes over 6000 People Facing Poverty, Homelessness

via Rocco Palmo: Amid protests, fear and broader tensions in the 5 million-member (/70 percent Latino) archdiocese of Los Angeles – a scene likewise present in other major cities – in the wake of Tuesday’s vote for President-elect Trump, Archbishop José Gomez (himself a Mexican-born immigrant) delivered the following, deeply potent homily at an evening… Read More Archbishop Gomez of LA: Tonight in America, Children Are Afraid