A Light to the Persecuted

Under an atheistic communist regime known for its hostility to Christians, Sister Marije Kaleta baptized babies and brought the Eucharist to sick and dying in secret. The heroic Albanian nun passed away this week at 92 years old.

The Missionaries of Charity, established by St. Teresa of Calcutta, continue to experience difficulties from the government of India. While a previous decision to block the Sisters from receiving foreign donations has been reversed, a group of Sisters was recently evicted from a property in which they ran a children’s home in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh by the Indian Defense Department.

Our culture is deeply divided over the question of who should have power over creation – humanity or God. Mary Eberstadt offers a stark assessment of the current state of affairs: “Men are at war with God.”

We are often led to believe that our neighbors who are leaving institutional religion are embracing atheism, materialism, and skepticism – but is that the full story? It seems that in many cases the natural religious instinct is alive and well as many among the non-religiously affiliated embrace “quasi-religions,” and this, Bishop Barron argues, should give us hope.

While the percentage of American adults who give to charity has rebounded from a pandemic-induced slump, volunteering and donations to religious institutions have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Negotiations between diplomats from Russia and NATO have yet to yield results, as a Russian buildup of 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border stokes fears of invasion.

A Nigerian bishop reports that he is “fine” and back in his diocese after being called in for questioning by the federal secret police for denouncing the government’s inactivity in the face of anti-Christian persecutions and violence.