Iraq wedding fire kills more than 100, relatives identify bodies
Mosul, Iraq Reuters A fire ripped through a packed wedding hall in northern Iraq late on Tuesday, killing more than 100 people in a Christian town that had survived Islamic State occupation. Fire fighters searched the charred remains of the building in Qaraqosh, also known as Hamdaniya, through Wednesday morning and bereaved relatives gathered outside […]
More than 35,000 suffered sexual violence in Colombia’s conflict – tribunal
Bogota, ColombiaReuters At least 35,178 people have suffered sexual, gender and reproductive violence in Colombia’s armed conflict, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) tribunal said on Wednesday as it opened an investigation. Women, girls and people with diverse sexual orientations, identities and expressions of gender were the most affected, the JEP said. “The court finds […]
Catholic Church: The Vatican’s ‘Synod on Synodality’ is about to begin. Here’s what to know.
The unprecedented gathering of 464 Catholic clergy and laypeople, including women, begins on 4th October at the Vatican. CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, of Religion News Service, looks at what to expect…
Youth vs Europe: “Unprecedented” climate trial unfolds at rights court
Reuters Six young people from areas in Portugal ravaged by wildfires and heatwaves went head-to-head with 32 European governments on Wednesday, alleging in court that their failure to act fast enough on climate change is a violation of their human rights. The case – filed in September, 2020, against the 27 EU member states as […]
Essay: The secret synod
US Catholic commentator PHYLLIS ZAGANO, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says too many US Catholics don’t know about the global discussion of the church’s future…
Survivors march to Rome to demand “zero tolerance” on church abuse
Vatican City Reuters A group of Catholic Church abuse survivors and their advocates on Wednesday called on Pope Francis to enforce “zero tolerance” against clerical sex abuse, after completing a six-day pilgrimage to Rome carrying a large wooden cross. The 10 men and women walked 130 kilometres along the last stretch of the Via Francigena, […]
Postcards: Social media inspires Japanese women to dash into rickshaw pulling
MARIKO KATSUMURA and ISSEI KATO, of Reuters, report on the rise in women rickshaw pullers on the streets of Tokyo…
Armenian priest fears for Karabakh’s Christian heritage amid mass exodus
Kornidzor, Armenia Reuters Father David fears for Nagorno-Karabakh’s ancient Christian heritage following the defeat of the region’s ethnic Armenian breakaway enclave by Azerbaijani forces. The 33-year-old Armenian priest has come to Kornidzor, a village on the border with mainly Muslim Azerbaijan, to provide spiritual support to tens of thousands of his compatriots now fleeing their […]