Remember debt to the poor in debt negotiations, urge religious leaders | Starvation looms in drought-stricken Africa | Aussie church agencies apologize for forced adoptions | State Department raises visibility of religion
The first reading this Sunday affirms that those who look to God will not want for anything, regardless of their economic status. As Washington struggles to forge a solution to the nation’s debt crisis, religious figures urged the president and congressional officials to protect programs for hungry and poor people . . .
“The hand of the Lord feeds us,” the psalmist proclaims this Sunday. The United Nations is urging “massive” action to feed millions in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa region . . .
Nothing and no one can separate us from the love of Christ, Saint Paul confidently asserts in this Sunday’s reading from the Letter to the Romans. Three Catholic agencies in Australia have apologized for forcibly separating thousands of unmarried mothers from their newborn babies . . .
The awesome power of God is on display in this Sunday's readings. The U.S. State Department is going out of its way to assure observers that the most powerful nation on earth takes religion seriously . . .
“At this time of national grief [Pope Benedict XVI] prays that all Norwegians will be spiritually united . . . to reject the ways of hatred and conflict and to work together fearlessly in shaping a future of mutual respect, solidarity, and freedom . . . .”
In the first half of 2011 the number of Somali pirate attacks has risen to 163 from 100 during the same period last year.