This is only the latest wave of Syrian refugees and internally displaced people from Iraq to seek safety in Iraqi-Kurdistan, which already hosts 38 camps. So far 12,000 Syrian civilians have taken refuge across the border.

Surveys show a long-term decline in U.S. Latinos identifying as Catholic, reports J.D. Long-García. The church is identifying ways to keep second- and third-generation immigrants in the pews.

A minority government will make it more difficult for Trudeau’s Liberal Party to press its political agenda, but some see this as an opportunity for civic society actors: “Maybe this new situation loosens and opens things up for people to engage.”

The convent lost power and generators were put into place as backup. A fire department captain told local media that the sisters, some of whom were on oxygen, were scared but in good spirits. “We joked with them a little bit.... They are a great bunch of ladies.”

“Up until the last five or 10 years, Mass was offered every day. Then it was hard to get priests [every day]; then it was hard to get priests on the weekend. There were [fewer priests] in the parishes and they were being stretched thin.”

As tensions rise again with the approach of a Nov. 12 deadline for the creation of a unity government, Bishop Kussala has a message for the conflict-weary people of South Sudan. “The church is here to stay,” he said. “We serve the people; we don’t run away.”