Crux Now

Catholics mobilize as deadline looms on shield for young immigrants

As a Sept. 5 deadline nears for a demand issued by ten state attorneys general to the Trump administration to scrap a law that provides protection from deportation and work permits for the children of undocumented immigrants, Catholic leaders across the country are mobilizing in defense of DACA, the "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" program, as well as Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

Why do Christians hesitate to rise up on anti-Christian persecution?

In general, when communities experience hatred or persecution, enlightened people want them to speak out, knowing we need them to hold our feet to the fire. So why do some Christians hesitate to do precisely that about the global pattern of anti-Christian persecution, documented again this week in a new State Department report?

Why we all need a Summer in the Forest

L’Arche has revolutionized care for a whole category of human beings, doing for the disabled what the hospice movement – another Christian revolution – has done for the terminally ill. ‘Summer in the Forest’ is a slow-burning, at times tear-inducing, but always joyful documentary that takes us into the heart of L’Arche through the lives of some of the early residents with whom Jean Vanier first built the community, as well as others who came later.

Statue of first Catholic Supreme Court justice removed because he wrote Dred Scott decision
- Associated Press
- August 18, 2017
A statue of Roger B. Taney, the first Catholic to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, was removed from the Maryland Statehouse, after objections were made to honoring the author of the Dred Scott decision, which upheld slavery. The removal came after the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, with clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters which left one person dead.
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Church leaders oppose Bolivian law stripping protection for native lands
- Barbara Fraser
- August 18, 2017
In a statement August 11, the Pan-Amazonian Church Network expressed its “deep concern and indignation” about a new law that strips protection from a national park and indigenous territory, and said it would mean “the gradual destruction of vital natural reserves.” The network said the new law “could represent the ethnocide of the Chiman people … and cause the eventual disappearance of the vital cultural customs” of the indigenous people living in the area.
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Charlottesville's Catholic students ready to heal wounds, chaplain says
- Carol Zimmermann
- August 18, 2017
Although the University of Virginia campus had not started its fall semester and new and returning students had not moved in August 12 when a white supremacist rally was taking place in Charlottesville, there were still some students on campus as well as faculty and staff, and about 250 of them gathered for a prayer vigil and rosary for peace August 13 at St. Thomas Aquinas, the university’s parish church.
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Conscientious objection in assisted suicide cases under threat in Ontario
- Kevin J. Jones
- August 18, 2017
More than 630 people have killed themselves in Ontario under legal assisted suicide, but not at Catholic hospitals. In Ontario, the law requires hospitals, hospices and long-term care centers that will not take part in assisted suicide to transfer the patient to a facility that will.
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Religious leaders in India gather to preach non-violence, world peace
- Nirmala Carvalho
- August 18, 2017
Archbishop Felix Machado told an interfaith gathering in India on Aug. 13 that people need to have peace in their hearts if they are to seek to create peace in the world. “What is required is unity and truth.” In the wake of this week’s terrorist attack in Spain, Machado said religious leaders must “build peace while times are peaceful. Do not wait for tensions and conflicts.”
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Barcelona cardinal visits hospital after tragedy: "No more attacks in the name of God"
- Claire Giangravè
- August 18, 2017
“God is the God of life and love in all religions, especially in ours, in the Catholic world, where God dies to save man. The path of destruction is not religion nor does it come from God and can never be tolerated,” said Cardinal Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, after visiting wounded in the hospital after the terror attacks.
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Vote 'No' on same-sex marriage but show respect, Australian bishops say
- Claire Giangravè
- August 18, 2017
Australian bishops have called citizens in the country to vote ‘No’ at the postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage in November, which would open the door to changing the current law that recognizes marriage as between a man and a woman. The archbishop of Adelaide also invited Catholics to participate in the debate “in the spirit of grace, calm reverence and respect.”
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No end in sight as Uganda receives one million South Sudanese refugees
- Catholic News Agency
- August 18, 2017
Refugees will continue to flee South Sudan into neighboring Uganda until the civil war ends and the country can begin to develop a safe homeland for its citizens. However, international peacemaking efforts have halted and there is no substantial talk of peace on the horizon.
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Verdict on first religious freedom report under Trump: Great rhetoric, what do we do?

August 16, 2017

Given that President Donald Trump repeatedly has vowed to make defending religious freedom a key element of U.S. foreign policy, release of the first State Department International Religious Freedom Report on his watch was keenly anticipated. Overall, observers say there’s good stuff in it, but it still leaves the basic question unanswered: Having named the problem, what are we going to do about it?

Former Belgian PM challenges Pope Francis on euthanasia ban for religious hospitals

August 14, 2017

Herman Van Rompuy, who has formerly served as the President of the European Council and Prime Minister of Belgium, has tweeted a message implying Pope Francis cannot tell a Belgian religious order to stop performing euthanasia at its medical clinics. Van Rompuy serves on the board of the Brothers of Charity Group.