Nichole Flores writes: While Latino Catholics have always been a vital presence in the American church, burgeoning populations of migrants and young people have helped bolster their numbers. And even as growing numbers of Latinos have shifted the geographic center of Catholicism from the Northeast to the Southwest, signs of Latino Catholicism are becoming ubiquitous… Read More Why Dioceses Should Support Struggling Latino Churches
via Faith in Focus: After losing his father and brothers in a plane crash, Stephen Colbert was grateful just to be alive. “I was thankful for my existence, and that gratitude…pointed at God.” Watch the full clip:
Robert Christian writes: Polarization in the United States has increased dramatically in recent decades. At a Georgetown University event on polarization in a “broken Church and nation,” John Carr, the director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, described the grim landscape of American politics. He argued that Americans are more divided… Read More Can Catholic Social Teaching Reduce Polarization?
via Vatican: The consensus on the final document, rather complex and technically detailed, represents a confirmation of the commitments made three years ago in Paris and of the significance of multilateralism. Unfortunately, we must also note that the rulebook does not adequately reflect the urgency necessary to tackle climate change, which “represents one of the… Read More Holy See Backs More Ambitious Climate Agenda
via CNS: Christmas will not be authentic if people get caught up in a frenzy of shopping, presents and meals, all while ignoring the poor and forgetting who the celebration is really all about, Pope Francis said. “If Christmas ends up as just a beautiful traditional holiday,” where everything revolves around “us and not him,… Read More Pope Francis: Christmas Turns the Tables
Following the recent death of seven-year-old Jakelin Caal, Fr. James Martin, SJ offered his thoughts: I want to point out that blaming the victim, or the victim’s parents, is a terrible, and indeed sinful, perversion of Jesus’s Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37). Remember that in Jesus’s parable a man takes the Road to… Read More Stop Blaming Parents for Trying to Save Their Kids’ Lives
In 2005 and 2006, my wife and I led a group of high school and college students to Guatemala for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. We learned about Mayan culture and what refugees endured during a 36-year civil war, and we saw firsthand the widespread poverty, unemployment, and other social problems (substance abuse, domestic violence, gang activity,… Read More Migrants Are Fighting for Survival
Millennial 