World

Right before Mass began, two Indigenous women unfurled a banner at the altar of the National Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré that read: “Rescind the Doctrine” in bright red and black letters.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at what led to a historic apology by Pope Francis before reflecting on what it means to offer a corporate apology and what steps must come afterward. 

With attention focusing on the former school in the prairie town of Maskwacis as Pope Francis visits Monday to apologize for abuses in a system designed to sever Native children from their tribal, family, and religious bonds, Indigenous Canadians are voicing a range of skepticism, wariness, and hope.

Faith leaders from a range of religions are teaming up with WHO officials to help prevent monkeypox as outbreaks of the disease occur across the globe. Religions for Peace Secretary-General Azza Karam said “theologies of compassion” that developed in response to HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19 are shaping the plans being put in place to address the latest disease.

On the final day of the 2022 Baptist World Alliance annual gathering, the BWA presented the 2022 Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award to Daniel L. Buttry. Established in 2006, the annual award is given by the BWA for significant and effective activities to secure, protect, restore, or preserve human rights.

During the annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance in Birmingham, Alabama, members of the body’s general council passed resolutions on the war in Ukraine, last year’s coup in Myanmar, racial justice, and slavery reparations.

As the Baptist World Alliance’s annual gathering opened this week in person for the first time since 2019, Baptists from around the country came together at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, for a weeklong meeting focused on “standing for racial justice.”

It is a scene that stirs hope — and relief — for Muslims around the world. One million pilgrims from across the globe amassed on Thursday in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform the initial rites of the hajj, marking the largest Islamic pilgrimage since the coronavirus pandemic upended the annual event — a key pillar of Islam.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that made abortion legal nationwide, has prompted lawmakers in Israel to make it simpler to terminate a pregnancy. On Sunday, the parliament’s Labor Welfare and Health Committee approved new regulations to reduce the bureaucracy and intrusive questions that Israeli women have long faced when seeking an abortion.

Two priests, age 79 and 80, respectively, were shot to death in the small church on Cerocahui’s town square Monday (June 20), along with a tourist guide they tried to protect from a local criminal boss.