News Briefs

It was announced on April 12 that Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to Mexico since 2007, to be the new apostolic nuncio to the United States. • Urging more action on the second anniversary of the abduction of 219 school girls from Chibok in northeastern Nigeria, Bishop George Dodo of Zaria said, ”That they are still within the custody of their abductors after two years does no credibility to the corporate image of Nigeria as a nation.” • Criticizing a move to rebuild border controls to keep out refugees, Bishop Benno Elbs of Feldkirch, head of the Austrian church’s Caritas agency, said on April 13, “We certainly face a significant challenge, but the answer cannot lie in saying goodbye to human rights.” • White House officials joined faith leaders on April 14 in endorsing an end to payday lending abuses that can entrap consumers “in an endless cycle of debt.” • A new Pew Research Center study of Americans across the religious spectrum, issued on April 12, found that “people who are highly religious are more engaged with their extended families…more involved in their communities and generally happier with the way things are going in their lives.”