News in Activities

Catholics stand against Spain's proposed educational reform

Catholics stand against Spain's proposed educational reform

by: Xavier Le Normand - LaCroix International in Activities,

Catholics in Spain have voiced opposition to a proposed law to reform the country's education system, claiming it will limit the rights of parents to choose their children's schools. "It is a partisan and ideological law, without a vision of the State and without response to the demands of citizens and the educational community," says Más Plurales (roughly, "more diversity or choice"), an umbrella group that represents parents' associations, unions, businesses and educators.

Pope says women leaders 'better' than men

Pope says women leaders 'better' than men

by: Christopher Lamb - The Tablet in Activities,

Pope Francis says countries with female leaders have handled the Covid-19 pandemic better than others and that he has increased the number of women in decision making roles in the Vatican because they are “much better administrators than men”.

Towards a "not normal" Christmas

Towards a "not normal" Christmas

by: Arnaud Join-Lambert - La Croix International in Activities,

The coronavirus lockdown actually offers us the chance to discover the truer and deep meaning of Christmas. The coronavirus spreads and multiplies rapidly, threatening everything that structures our rather peaceful life in the West.

Garo Christians defy pandemic to celebrate harvest festival

Garo Christians defy pandemic to celebrate harvest festival

by: Stephan Uttom and Rock Ronald Rozario - La Croix International in Activities,

There won't be huge festivities, sports events, and chu (rice beer) parties, unlike previous years…but will continue to thank God for the blessings and offer Him crops from our fields," Chisim told UCA News. The majority of some 1 million Garo people live in the northeastern Indian states of Meghalaya and Assam, but some 120,000 also live in neighboring Bangladesh. 

The Law of Gravity and the Holy Spirit

The Law of Gravity and the Holy Spirit

by: Ron Rolheiser, OMI in Activities,

God is erotically charged and the world is achingly amorous, hence they caress each other in mutual attraction and filiation. Jewish philosopher Martin Buber made that assertion, and while it seems to perfectly echo the opening line of St. Augustine’s autobiography (“You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”) it hints at something more.

Anything that strengthens love is good

Anything that strengthens love is good

by: Brendan MacCarthaigh - La Croix International in Activities,

 "Let our differences then be simply cultural and local, not cosmic nor eternal". Outside my house when I lived in Kolkata, eastern India, I would see the annual self-flagellation of Muslim men on the street opposite the school gate. The social dimension is of course very important, doing penance that everyone else is sharing is a very bonding experience, and anything that strengthens love is good.

Sarah Crossan: prayers in her bones

Sarah Crossan: prayers in her bones

by: Peter Stanford - The Tablet in Activities,

The award-winning children’s author talks about the poetics of her first novel for adults, and why she remains steeped in the Catholicism of her Irish upbringing. “Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,” begins Sarah Crossan, “Hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope.”

La Civiltà Cattolica, Digital English Edition

La Civiltà Cattolica, Digital English Edition

by: Fr. Michael Kelly, SJ in Activities,

 Greetings from La Civiltà Cattolica, one of the most respected Catholic journals published from the center of Catholicism: Rome. La Civiltà Cattolica, a publishing project given to the Jesuits by Pope Pius IX in 1850, is one of the oldest and continuously published Catholic journals in the world.

The parish: to grieve or enter new life

The parish: to grieve or enter new life

by: Justin Stanwix - La Croix International in Activities,

Eric Hodgens recently painted a pandemic lament of the "grieving parish" – an institution on its knees. His article was not a maudlin piece of despondent personal opinion, but a reasoned expression of realism and sadness about what has occurred and how some see the outcome of isolation.

Media Ecology, Church and Pandemic

Media Ecology, Church and Pandemic

by: Paul A. Soukup, SJ - La Civiltà Cattolica in Activities,

Media ecology, a subset of communication studies, approaches communication as an ecosystem. Borrowing the metaphor of a natural ecosystem, this type of study imagines communication as an environment in which many different elements interact. The environment contains not only different communication media but also people, ideas, cultures, historical events, and so on.

Cardinal leads church leaders in uproar at Mass ban

Cardinal leads church leaders in uproar at Mass ban

by: Liz Dodd - The Tablet in Activities,

In a letter to the Prime Minister sent on Tuesday, a day before Parliament was due to debate the new restrictions, Cardinal Nichols argues that public worship has an invaluable role to play in supporting vulnerable people, both by improving social cohesion and mental health.

Jesuits worldwide protest against imprisonment of elderly priest.

Jesuits worldwide protest against imprisonment of elderly priest.

by: Ruth Gledhill - The Tablet in Activities,

Jesuits worldwide are mobilising in protest after an 84-year-old Jesuit priest and human rights activist was arrested in India accused of terrorist links. Fr Stan Swamy SJ, a prominent and popular human rights activist, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency for alleged Maoist links on October 8.

London-born teen on path to sainthood

London-born teen on path to sainthood

by: Junno Arocho Esteves - Catholic News Service in Activities,

A London-born teenager beatified in Italy yesterday showed that heaven is an “attainable goal”, according to the cardinal who read the papal letter proclaiming him “blessed”. Carlo Acutis was born on 3 May 1991 to Italian parents and was baptised at Our Lady of Dolours in Fulham on 18 May 1991 by Fr Nicholas Martin OSM. Soon afterwards, the family moved to Milan, Italy. He died of leukaemia in 2006.

The virus and the virtues

The virus and the virtues

by: Julian C. Hughes - The Tablet in Activities,

It’s now six months since the lockdown began, and a second wave of the coronavirus may be upon us. We have learnt that in a crisis what makes the difference is not algorithms or protocols, but virtue and character. One of the things we have witnessed over the past months – clearer, perhaps, than for a generation – has been the virtues in full swing.