World

The world’s top Christian leaders — Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians — on Tuesday issued a joint appeal for delegates at the upcoming U.N. climate summit to “listen to the cry of the Earth” and make sacrifices to save the planet.

With a new coalition government in power in Israel, descendants of the residents of Iqrit and Biram have hopes of rebuilding the towns 73 years after Israeli soldiers forced the residents to leave.

As the U.S. continues its evacuations of American citizens and Afghans who have worked for the U.S. over the past 20 years, faith-based refugee resettlement organizations are leading efforts to help Afghans settle into the country.

Sri Lanka’s Christian community hoisted black flags at churches and homes on Saturday to express anger over the government’s investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attacks, which killed 269 people.

Pope Francis issued a message on Wednesday encouraging Catholics to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, calling it “an act of love,” as part of a global effort to reduce the onslaught of the pandemic and convince vaccine skeptics.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we consider the failure of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan amid the unfolding humanitarian crisis. And we offer some lessons we hope Christians will consider from this war miscast as a crusade. 

As most Americans absorbed the shock of the Taliban’s full takeover of Afghanistan over the weekend, officials at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service followed the rapidly deteriorating situation with resignation, knowing it could have gone differently.

How many children had been orphaned by causes related to COVID-19? According to a report released last week, an estimated more than 1.5 million children around the world lost a parent or grandparent who lived with and cared for them in the first 14 months of the pandemic.

Scholar Kristen Lucken explores how themes of rest and contemplation are woven throughout the fabric of most religious traditions and the various ways they remain equally salient in our lives today.

Amid the changes at the Tokyo Olympics are adjustments to the way the Games are accommodating athletes’ religious needs, as well as to the way outside groups are able to share their faith with Olympians and their fans.