Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.

The Vatican delegation to the United Nations registered its dissent this week for a decision to smuggle the category of “gender identity” into a U.N. statement on refugees.

The UK-based Lancet medical journal has joined China in condemning the “reckless decision” of U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw from the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), claiming the move is “unlawful” and will have “dire consequences.”

The Archdiocese of New York announced Thursday that 20 of its Catholic schools will not reopen and three more will merge in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese Foreign Minister Zhao Lijian denied allegations Thursday that Beijing had “pressured” Pope Francis into not speaking about freedom and human rights in Hong Kong during his Angelus message last Sunday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on China to honor its “international human rights obligations” in a statement marking the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s ignominious July 9 “nationwide offensive.”

The United States bishops praised Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision confirming the right of Catholic schools to choose teachers “who will teach and model the Catholic faith.”

Leaders of the U.S. bishops’ conference praised the Supreme Court’s defense of the Little Sisters of the Poor against immoral bullying while underscoring deeper problems that remain with the Obama-era Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate.

The head of the Vatican’s coronavirus taskforce said Tuesday that humanity is facing “a tsunami of humanitarian crises” caused by the convergence of medical, economic, and environmental factors.

“The bishops have been calling for an end to the death penalty for decades,” writes Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City in an appeal to the U.S. government not to go through with four pending federal executions.

Pope Francis denounced the “abuses and violence” afflicting African migrants in Libya in a homily Wednesday commemorating his visit to Lampedusa at the outset of his pontificate.

Italian voter confidence in the government of Giuseppe Conte has declined by 20 percentage points since mid-March and now sits at just above 30 percent, according to a poll released Wednesday by Tecnè.

The president of the Italian Society of Anti-infection Therapy (SITA) said Monday that scattered new outbreaks of coronavirus in Italy present no real cause for concern.

ROME — Pope Francis decided at the last minute to pull a section of his weekly Angelus address dealing with Hong Kong freedoms Sunday.

A South African cardinal has denounced the hijacking of Black Lives Matter (BLM), which is now “committed to dismantling the very values, structure and institutions” central to a healthy society.

Boko Haram Islamic terrorists carried out over “fifty different attacks on different communities between the end of 2019 to June 2020,” the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN) has revealed, most of which were “unreported or underreported” by the media.

The bishop of Tyler, Texas, has urged the faithful to educate themselves about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, insisting that its mission statement is contrary to Christian belief.

The bishop of Lafayette, Indiana, has suspended a priest from public ministry for penning an essay saying that Black Lives Matter had betrayed the civil rights legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglas.

Pope Francis has thrown his support behind the United Nations’ appeal for a global ceasefire to address fallout from the coronavirus, telling pilgrims in the Vatican Sunday that the measure represents a “courageous first step.”

A Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) has sharply criticised Scotland’s left-separatist devolved government for allowing pubs to open ahead of places of worship as the country emerges from its coronavirus lockdown.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has mocked the decision by U.S. officials to fly a rainbow pride flag over the embassy in Moscow, saying it “tells you something about the people who work there.”

The leader of Italy’s leading party declared Friday that China’s communist regime has nothing in common with Italian democracy, while condemning Italy’s official silence on Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong.

The president of the Commission of European Bishops’ Conferences (COMECE) has decried the ongoing violence and targeted persecution of Christians in Nigeria by Islamist militants.

The largest indigenous Christian denomination in the Northeast of Nigeria has reported a death toll of more than 8,370 of its members due to attacks from the Boko Haram Islamist terror group.

The redoubtable Cardinal Joseph Zen said this week that he is prepared to suffer arrest and trials under Hong Kong’s draconian new National Security Law.

Pope Francis offered his condolences and promised prayers to Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI Thursday following the death of Benedict’s brother Georg, who was also a Catholic priest.

The Vatican issued a statement Wednesday warning Israel that “unilateral actions” in the West Bank and Jordan Valley would seriously compromise peace efforts in the area.

The United States bishops praised Tuesday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow a tax credit scholarship program to benefit families whose children attend religiously affiliated schools.

The Romanian government has passed a law declaring August 16 the “National Day of Awareness of Violence Against Christians.”

Irish women have taken full advantage of the repeal of constitutional protection for unborn babies, with 6,666 abortions performed during the first year of legalization, according to official figures released Tuesday.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue said that both the Democrat Party and Black Lives Matter resemble the Ku Klux Klan in their vicious opposition to school choice.