Pope urges religious leaders to denounce 'blasphemy' of violence in God's name
- Mar 6, 2021
A Colombian archbishop says he expects the country’s Catholic Church to go bankrupt by August due to the lack of income since the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Latin America is now the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Brazil leading in cases and deaths, followed by Peru. The region has reported nearly 1 million cases and some 50,000 deaths, although officials say the real figures are probably higher.
The Vatican’s leading diplomat has warned that Venezuelan migrants and refugees are facing a “humanitarian disaster” as lockdowns in host nations leave them without jobs and force some to return home in grueling conditions.
One Colombia restaurant owner’s “Solidarity Menu” project works with a delivery start up, Rappi. People can order and pay for food online that his employees prepare for delivery to families in poor neighborhoods.
Following a flood of legal complaints from pro-life groups and groups favoring abortion, a judge in Colombia’s Constitutional Court proposed that abortion be permitted on request until the 16th week of pregnancy. On March 2, a majority of judges on the court said they could not vote on that proposal because the complaint that had begun the debate on abortion had been inadequately formulated.
A massive food pantry helps thousands of Venezuelans who cross into Colombia each day for work, or just to get food, as their country goes through an unprecedented humanitarian crisis caused by a collapsing economy, violence and political repression.
Catholic priests, deacons and bishops across the Amazon voiced surprise, resignation and reluctant acceptance of Pope Francis’s refusal to allow married men to be ordained priests, lamenting that their faithful will continue to be deprived of Mass and subject to competing evangelical churches that have made impressive inroads in the region.
The Nina Maria day care center is one of many projects run by the Diocese of Cucuta to help Venezuelan migrants, who are leaving their country to escape poverty, violence and an increasingly authoritarian government.