VATICAN CITY – When the Pope calls you to Rome, you go.
Dozens of mayors from around the world heeded the call in 2015, when Pope Francis invited them to the Vatican to discuss actions their cities could take against climate change and human trafficking. And it happened again last month, when Francis asked 70 mayors, mostly from Europe, to come and discuss local responses to the refugee crisis.
Both meetings amounted to follow-up on the Pope’s June 2015 encyclical letter, Laudato Sì. The 184-page letter expressed Francis’ concerns for the “common home” of humanity. In addition to strong words on the need to fight climate change, he included statements on the need for more socially inclusive urban planning. Continue reading
“Pope Francis told participants at a Vatican gathering on religious life that the exodus of clergy and religious men and women is weakening the Church and must be addressed. “We are dealing with a ‘hemorrhage’ that is debilitating to consecrated life and the very life of the Church,” the Pope said, noting that the number of desertions from the consecrated life is “worrisome.” –
In a recent attack, some 90 Muslims stormed a Christian church in eastern Uganda, beating and tying up the men present before raping 15 of the Christian women.
“A leading Egyptian cleric irked his Christian compatriots when he said on television that the Islamic figure Muhammed would marry the Virgin Mary in heaven. …The Quran said: ‘Allah will give [the Prophet] women preferable to his wives, Muslim, pious, pure women.’” One, he said, referred to Asiya and the other to Mary. Egypt’s Christian community was enraged by Galil’s remarks. The community’s youth movement issued a statement demanding an apology. The movement’s chairman, Nader Soubhi, said: “We Christians don’t recognize any aspect of the Virgin Mary except her sanctity, her purity and her virginity. The Virgin Mary will never lose any of these.” –
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“President Donald Trump signed three executive actions this morning, killing the Trans-Pacific partnership, instituting a federal hiring freeze, and restoring the Mexico City policy, which bans federal funds from being used to fund abortions. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time … a great thing for the American worker,” Trump said after signing the order killing former President Obama’s signature trade effort.” –
“The Financial Times 

