Cardus

The synod process underway around the world and at the Vatican is inflicting "evident and grave harm" on the Catholic Church, retired U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke wrote in a letter published as the foreword to a book.

On the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief, observed on the United Nations' calendar Aug. 22, Pakistan and India are among places of particular concern for Christian rights advocates.

Wildfires wreaking devastation across British Columbia and the Northwest Territories have apparently spared Catholic churches, though numerous other buildings cannot say the same thing.

Thanking a group of European lawyers for their attention to environmental protection laws, Pope Francis said he was preparing another document on the subject.

Nicaraguan officials evicted a team of Jesuits from their home in the capital city of Managua shortly after seizing a prestigious university from the religious order -- an act the Society of Jesus called a "spectacle."

Catholic churches have thus far been spared from the more than 200 wildfires sweeping through the Northwest Territories, according to Bishop Jon Hansen of the Mackenzie-Fort Smith diocese.

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Aug. 20 (Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28)

The command of the Lord was forceful and unambiguous: maintain justice and do what is right. It doesn’t require a theology degree or private revelations to understand, and yet people find this extraordinarily difficult.

The Jesuit-run Central American University in Managua suspended operations Aug. 16 after Nicaraguan authorities branded the school a "center of terrorism" the previous day and froze its assets for confiscation -- actions marking an escalation in the regime's repression of the Catholic Church and its charitable and educational projects.

The Pakistani Catholic church strongly condemned the Muslim mob attack on churches and Christian properties Aug. 16 and demanded justice.

The Colombian bishops' conference has welcomed the beginning of a six-month ceasefire between the nation's military and the largest remaining rebel group in the country, and began to train dozens of priests and lay workers from different parts of the country on how to help monitor the truce.