The number of Jews immigrating to Israel has dropped 43 percent in the six months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks. From April to September 2023, 23,073 people moved to Israel under the Law of Return. From October 2023 to March 2024, the number dropped to 12,977.
Read MorePresident Biden and Donald Trump clinched their parties’ presidential nominations on Tuesday night, setting up a 2016 general election rematch. The outcome in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state was never in doubt as both Biden and Trump cruised to victory.
Read MorePastor Manuel Castro was in tears. Sobbing, he recalled his frustration and heartbreak at having to halt Iglesia Bautista Gethsemani’s food distribution ministry after the city threatened his arrest. For 25 years, Castro said he has ministered to the spiritual and humanitarian needs of the agricultural town, near the Mexican border, including many seasonal workers with an unemployment rate of 28.1 percent.
Read More(EXPLAINER) India has implemented a new citizenship law that excludes Muslims, a religious minority, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. Although the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed five years ago by the country’s parliament, it was not enacted at the time due to the pandemic.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It's clear that both American evangelicals and Catholics feel compelled to show compassion when it comes to the issue of immigration — but also think that when it comes to politics, they seek solutions that include the notion that the enforcement of America's laws is not unkind.
Read More(ANALYSIS) No doubt there are those who falsely claim conversion from Islam to claim asylum, and some churches may be too credulous. But such conversions are occurring and such genuine converts face violence, imprisonment and even death if returned back to many countries.
Read MoreThe Czech Republic has one of the largest number of refugees per capita of any European nation. After the beginning of the war in Ukraine, thousands moved to the Czech Republic seeking safety following Russia’s invasion. However, the amount of immigrants from Ukraine was increasing even before the war because people were in search of better jobs and to escape poverty and unemployment.
Read More(REVIEW) “The Persian Version,” by falling into all the familiar cliches around non-White, non-Christian immigrant families, reminds us how Western secular pluralism is not a neutral space for worldviews — but an exclusive worldview in its own right.
Read MorePope Francis led a prayer vigil at the Vatican to recall the plight of migrants and refugees, saying everyone is “called to be neighbors.” The service took place during the Synod on Synodality, a gathering of bishops and laypeople, and comes as large numbers of people have been forced to flee the Global South to places like the U.S. and Europe.
Read MoreSandwiched between a laundromat and an appliance shop, is the only halal store in the southeastern Washington state and central Idaho area known as The Palouse. Until June, PNW Halal Meats, LLC had been hidden away on the northeast side of town in Pullman, Washington, close to the Washington State University campus. The store was cramped with a confined parking lot, easy to miss if one wasn’t looking for it.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops assembled in Baltimore to elect a new president. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Services, tasked with overseeing Catholic ministries to members of the U.S. armed forces, was elected to lead the USCCB. What does it mean for the Catholic Church in the United States?
Read More(OPINION) A ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month served as an urgent reminder that Congress must do far more to meet this calling. On Oct. 5, a federal judge affirmed a lower court’s decision that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is unlawful. While current DACA recipients can still apply for renewal, this protective program is now in deep peril.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Holy See still exerts a lot of influence in Italy. In a country that is still overwhelmingly Catholic, the results of Sunday’s election will put politicians at odds with this pope on many issues — although immigration will be the biggest one. Once you put aside “culture war” issues, Meloni and the pope agree on another thorny matter: Ukraine.
Read MoreItalians will vote in national elections on Sunday. If polls are correct, then history could be made once the votes are counted. Giorgia Meloni, who heads the Brothers of Italy party, could become the country’s first female prime minister since the nation became a republic in 1946. Here’s everything you need to know about her faith and politics.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Pope Francis, along with the European Union and Italy’s left-wing voters, face a major headache since a coalition of right-wing parties could emerge victorious in Italy’s elections. The parties have been at odds with the Vatican over immigration. Can Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna make the difference this summer?
Read More(OPINION) Americans have seen how ugly culture wars can become when electoral politics are caught in its talons. Witness the vitriol that dominates the news out of Washington and various state capitals these days. The situation in India — the world’s largest Hindu-majority nation with the third-largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan — is arguably even worse.
Read More(REVIEW) “Prey” is a meticulously researched book, and Ali offers us page after page of grim statistics to support her thesis that the surge of immigration into Europe in 2015 has led to a surge in sexual violence.
Read MorePresident Joe Biden said Pope Francis told him on Friday that he’s “a good Catholic” who should continue to receive Holy Communion. The comments widen the rift between the pope and a group of U.S. bishops because of the president’s support for abortion rights. The Vatican declined to comment on the veracity of Biden’s statement.
Read More(OPINION) The U.S. bishops used their recent spring gathering to urge the church to be welcoming to migrants. In the spirit of Mother Cabrini, the church needs to continue to reach out to immigrant communities. The bishops have pinpointed some of the issues. It’s time now for talk to be put into action.
Read MoreJust hours after a Feb. 23 court hearing granted a temporary stay to Myanmar nationals in Malaysia to protect asylum seekers who fled religious and ethnic persecution, 1,086 Myanmar citizens were deported on three ships by Myanmar’s military at the Malaysian Royal Navy base in Lumut, on the West coast of Malaysia. The UN’s refugee agency, denied access to the immigration detention centers since August 2019, was not allowed to evaluate and separate asylum seekers from the group deported, which sources say include Chin Christians who had fled persecution in Myanmar.
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