At Vox’s Today, Explained podcast, RNS reporter Jack Jenkins describes the latest developments in the ongoing sexual abuse crisis. Fr. Paddy Gilger, SJ and a number of lay people offer reflections on the crisis and their faith. You can listen here:

via USCCB: The United States Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, announced yesterday that the Administration will set the Presidential Determination, the level of refugees allowed into the United States, at 30,000 refugees for 2019. This is the lowest number set in the history of the U.S. refugee admissions program which was formally created in 1980.… Read More The Trump Administration’s Refugee Plan is Disturbing, Puts Lives at Risk

via Reuters: Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is helping to craft the curriculum for a leadership course at a right-wing Roman Catholic institute in Italy, stepping up his efforts to influence conservative thinking in the church. Benjamin Harnwell, director of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute based in a mountaintop monastery not far from Rome,… Read More Steve Bannon and Cardinal Burke Teaming Up at Alt-Catholic Institute

“Africa is a wealthy continent, and its greatest, most valuable resource is its young people. They should be able to choose between letting themselves be overcome by difficulty or transforming the difficulty into an opportunity. The most effective way to help them in this choice is to invest in their education. If young people don’t… Read More Pope Francis’ Prayer Intentions for September 2018: For Young People in Africa

An 88-year-old dad is reunited with his 53-year-old down syndrome son after spending a week apart for the first time ever. pic.twitter.com/5hvl0FkGKS — The Dad (@thedad) September 1, 2018 via People: A man with Down Syndrome wasted no time covering his father with sweet kisses after returning from a week-long trip, and the moment was captured… Read More Touching Video of Dad and Son Embracing After Rare Time Apart

Fr. Patrick Gilger, SJ writes: I am ashamed at the crimes recorded in the Pennsylvania grand jury report and ashamed by the apparently well-known abuses of power by former Cardinal McCarrick. I am ashamed not because there is anything new in these reports, but because it means that in yet another place, the hierarchy of… Read More Being a Priest is the Greatest Gift of My Life, But I Feel Shame over the Betrayal of the Vulnerable

via CNS: Jesus himself showed that the best way to respond to scandal and divisiveness is to stay silent and pray, Pope Francis said Sept. 3 as he resumed his early morning Masses with invited guests. “With people lacking goodwill, with people who seek only scandal, with those who look only for division, who want… Read More Pope Francis: Silence is Christ’s Response to Lies, Divisiveness