South Sudan’s civil war has taken a brutal turn, despite appeals from the country’s church leaders to stop the violence. In the oil hub of Bentiu, rebels loyal to ousted Vice President Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer, killed more than 200 civilians and wounded more than 400 in mid-April, the

A small group of Teresian Carmelites from Kerala, India, began working in the Diocese of Bismarck, N.D., in February, the first time members of the congregation have served in the Western Hemisphere. • Jesuits in Honduras have demanded an investigation after Carlos Mejia Orellana, 35, marketing

Tensions between Christian and Muslim communities in the Central African Republic appear to be rising. As the predominately Christian anti-balaka (“anti-machete”) militias continue to harass Muslims around the country, there are signs that Seleka rebels, who are mostly Muslim, are attemp

State visits are usually occasions of pomp and circumstance signifying little. That was not true, however, of the recent formal introduction of President Michael Higgins of Ireland to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. During the president’s historic four-day visit, from April 8 to 12,

An ecumenical prayer service called for healing on April 9 at Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church in Murrysville, Pa., after a 16-year-old student rampaged in the hallways of Franklin Regional High School near Pittsburgh, wounding 22. • Along with other leaders and organizations that defend the r

Pope Francis urging a peaceful, negotiated solution to the ongoing political crisis.