St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson has issued a letter calling on parishes to seek alternatives to Girl Scouts, arguing that the program and related organizations conflict with Roman Catholic teaching. The Archdiocese of St. Louis isn’t directly kicking Girl Scout troops and activities off church properties, but is suggesting they and their cookies may no longer be welcome in the fold.
After his Sunday Angelus prayer, Pope Francis turned his attention to capital punishment — and the overall treatment of prisoners in general — calling on all Christians to work toward abolishing the death penalty. He also asked for government leaders worldwide, and those of Catholic faith, specifically, to halt any executions during this Holy Year of Mercy.
The similarities between 1966 and 2016 are frightening. Vanguard of the Revolution serves as a stark reminder that not much has changed in this country for black Americans. But we are here, and we are still fighting, despite knowing the full extent to which the American Empire will go to silence black outrage and destroy black unity. That should make us the vanguards of hope.
Donald Trump supporters in South Carolina on Friday were unmoved by Pope Francis’s comments the day before that were widely interpreted as a criticism of the Republican front-runner’s Christian values.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” the pope told journalists asking his opinion on Trump’s controversial plan to stop illegal immigration at the Mexican border.
At a time when politics and corruption have become synonymous, how refreshing and impressive would it be to see, as the central platform of presidential candidates, a strategy towards healthy and integrative goals that allow our nation to “become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to material degrees?”
Of course, the values Bahá’ís hold during their own elections – honesty, integrity, and considering one’s neighbor as oneself — are really universal values.
Francis is right. The spirit of religion is about healing and nurturing and bringing together. And he puts the question into the politically charged air once again: Walls or bridges? What’s it going to be?
Do we open ourselves to the spirit that wants to give us new hearts? Or do we choose to have hearts as cold as a stone wall?
1. Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Dies at 89
2. Pope Francis and Donald Trump: Bridges or Walls?
“Donald Trump has never met a wall he doesn't love. He believes in border walls, in gated communities, in structures and policies that separate ‘us’ from ‘them’ — especially when "them" can be defined as immigrants or people of color or the poor.”
3. Facebook and Twitter Join Apple in Encryption Fight with FBI
Heads of Google, Whatsapp, Twitter, and more have expressed support for Apple CEO Tim Cook’s recent statement rejecting a court’s direction to help the FBI hack into a San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone.
As "America's foremost Catholic," Stephen Colbert feels uniquely positioned to "broker a peace" between the two. He laid out his rationale on his late show.
“Mr. Trump, Mr. Pope (I believe that’s his formal name) is it possible that you’re fighting because you have so much in common?" said Colbert.
When people disagree with their church about current issues, some choose to speak with their elders, some look for another church, and others may leave altogether but this Michigan pastor is protesting his denomination by braving the cold and sleeping outside.
Rev. Michael Tupper of Parchment United Methodist Church has been sleeping in a tent in the Michigan winter since Nov. 30 and plans to keep sleeping outside for another 175 nights in protest of stances on sane-sex marriage in the Methodist church.
Whether you’re intimately involved in this struggle or just getting started, there is a place for you. Rise up and put your faith into action to end violence against women. Here are 7 ways to join the revolution.