Latin America

Venezuelan bishop warns of Iran’s rising influence in the country
- Nov 20, 2020
According to one Venezuelan bishop, the world should be concerned by the growing military presence of Iran in his country.

By Inés San Martín
Carmelite priest, Mercy sister to be honored for social justice work
- Nov 12, 2020
Carmelite Father Peter Hinde and Mercy Sister Betty Campbell often share an anecdote when receiving foreign visitors at Casa Tabor, the home in a modest Ciudad Juarez neighborhood near the U.S. border where they’ve lived, worked and welcomed visitors for 25 years.

By David Agren
Chile’s bishops call on Catholics to participate in drafting new constitution
- Oct 26, 2020
After almost a year of civil unrest, interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chileans overwhelmingly approved a bid to scrap the constitution written under the mandate of General Augusto Pinochet, a dictator who ruled the country until 1990.

By Inés San Martín

Pope’s civil union words spark reactions around the globe
- Oct 23, 2020
Across the globe, Pope Francis’s comments endorsing same-sex civil unions were received by some as encouragement for an advancing struggle and condemned by others as an earth-shaking departure from church doctrine.

By María Verza and Christopher Sherman

Brazilians intrigued by papal encyclical’s use of song based on Afro-Brazilian religion
- Oct 8, 2020
A quote of the Brazilian poet and composer Vinícius de Moraes in Pope Francis’s encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” was received with surprise and joy by many in the South American country.

By Eduardo Campos Lima
Pope Francis doesn’t propose ‘welfarism,’ says close papal advisor
- Oct 5, 2020
Pope Francis’s latest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, on the theme of human fraternity and a call for the world to be better after the COVID-19, was released on Sunday, and one of his ghostwriters urged Argentines not to take it personal and to read the pope in full.

By Inés San Martín
Under Pope Francis, ‘accountability’ finally crosses the Tiber
- Sep 27, 2020
“Accountability,” in the full American sense of the word, is finally crossing the Tiber in the Pope Francis era.

By John L. Allen Jr.
Vatican official: Use mercy to transform those who favor abortion
- Aug 31, 2020
The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life said Catholic groups need to use mercy and compassion in anti-abortion campaigns as they seek to “transform” those who do not support the rights of unborn children.

By Manuel Rueda