News Briefs

As Israeli students began their second week of classes on Sept. 6, thousands of students and teachers from Christian schools converged in front of the Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s office to protest government budget cuts to their schools. • During his homily on Sept. 10, Pope Francis said, “If you do not know how to forgive, you are not a Christian,” before imploring priests who cannot be merciful to ask for a desk job and “never walk into a confessional, I beg you.” • Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., called for solidarity with the persecuted Christians of the Middle East during a Sept. 9 prayer service during the In Defense of Christians summit in Washington. •The Vatican’s doctrinal congregation upheld a Spanish bishop’s refusal on Sept. 1 to allow a transsexual person to be a godparent. • On Sept. 10, New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo pledged his support for a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour, a hike that would help three million N.Y. wage earners. • Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon urged Myanmar’s president on Sept. 10 to review laws that could target religious minorities, arguing the legislation fragments “the dream of a united Myanmar.”