Conditions in Lebanon have been so bad for so long that most people seemed to have come to accept a profound level of government dysfunction. But this summer a series of difficulties—from wildfires raging across the countryside to a national shortage in fuel—highlighted the costs of government mismanagement and financial ineptitude.

The most important thing to emerge from the synod was the unequivocal commitment by the church to seek new ways to preach the Gospel and to promote justice and stand in solidarity with the Amazon’s 34 million inhabitants.

According to a new survey, a large share of U.S. Catholics still have doubts about the ability of religious leaders to admit and take responsibility for mistakes. But no one fares worse than members of Congress in terms of public trust.

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.”