News Briefs

The death of Miguel Pajares, O.H., on Aug. 12 brought to six the number of caregivers at a Catholic-run hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, who died of Ebola in August. • An official with the Catholic Near East Welfare Association said humanitarian agencies are “trying to pick up the pieces” of Gaza’s badly destroyed infrastructure, hoping that the declared truce between Israel and the militant Hamas will hold.• The Catholic-Jewish dialogue, a partnership of the National Council of Synagogues and the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called on Aug. 14 for “effective measures” to end violent acts taking place against Christians and Christians sites across the globe. • Representatives of 22 bishops’ conferences in Latin America emerged from the First Latin American Congress of Family Pastoral Agents in Panama on Aug. 9 pledging to strengthen the church’s work to promote the role of the family in society. • “Religious are those whose lives only make sense in light of our passion to live for God,” said John S. Edmunds, S.T., in his final address as president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men.