Why is there disability? – Mike Duggan It has been asserted that religion offers no relevant answers to the query, “Why is there disability?” Answers are numerous and include the ideas that disability is: (a) a punishment; (b) a test of faith; (c) the sins of the fathers visited upon the children; (d) an act […]

Re. Gabriel Slguero, President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition Posted: 08/04/2013 12:22 pm By now many people have read Time magazine’s, “Latino Reformation,” a cover story on the growth of Latino Evangelicals in America. Elizabeth Dias chronicles the growth of Hispanic Evangelicals including both store-front congregations to Latino mega-churches. As a Hispanic Evangelical leader my question of course […]

A British soldier behind a bullet-resistant riot shield in Northern Ireland in 1973, during the Troubles. Philip Jones Griffiths/Magnum Photos PEACE, said W. B. Yeats, comes dropping slow. After 15 years, the Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland still occasionally quivers, sometimes abruptly, and yet it holds. It is one of the great stories […]

New Women For A New Egypt (10:40) Event: An Open Space Conversation Participants: 31 (14 Male, 17 Female ) Location: Ismailia, Egypt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l7iZ955QH8

March 22nd, 2013 – by John Dear By John Dear, SJ Like many, I’m hopeful about the new Jesuit pope from Latin America who takes the name Francis, but I’m concerned about reports of his silence during Argentina’s “Dirty War.” I grieve, too, as we mark the 10th anniversary of the evil U.S. war on Iraq, […]

  The former leader of East Timor on his remarkable journey from activist to politician to Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Last Modified: 01 Dec 2012 09:46 20121128112028341200.html In 1975, Jose Ramos-Horta, the then foreign minister of the newly-liberated nation of East Timor, was sent by his country’s prime minister to New York. By the time his plane […]

By Olga Khazan A look at the regions where women are healthiest, happiest, make most, and are most likely to hold positions of power The first National Women’s Day was celebrated on March 8, 1909, a day designated by the Socialist Party of America to honor of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York. From there, the […]

Statement of the Conference of Muslim-Christian Religious Leaders of Asia, 2013 by Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib on Saturday, 2 March 2013 at 13:13 · Striving Together in Love Towards Common Action “Love God, Love Neighbour, Love all Creation” Introduction God the Almighty be praised for bringing us, 134 Muslim and Christian leaders of Asia, together […]

Azra Jafari has won respect in her community as she fights to improve lives and change attitudes towards wom The Guardian, Sunday 24 February 2013 18.36 GMT When Azra Jafari became mayor of Nili, she knew that the impoverished and remote Afghan town desperately needed roads and investment. She was aware she would be living in […]

Every summer, a group of Israeli women organise beach trips for Palestinian kids from towns and villages across the West Bank. For most children, it is their first time to visit the beach and swim in the dark blue Mediterranean waters. Back home, some families can see the sea from their balconies, but cannot go […]

Many couples crumble under the weight of the loss – the marriages of parents who have lost children are, tragically, more likely to end in divorce. But 10 years on from Christopher’s death, Ray and Vi have not only let go of their anger – but in an extraordinary show of compassion, they have managed […]

Amy Grant’s Story Of Her Parents’ Dementia And The Last Lesson They Taught Her Posted: 01/24/2013 10:28 am My dad loved to sing and loved any meal that brought our family together. He loved boats and the beach and being outdoors. He loved God, and his prayers were filled with gratitude. He taught me how […]