Sometimes 'culture warriors' are necessary. The Catholic Church in the United States has had occasion in our history to be more Ezekiel-like in its approach to culture.

Kerry Alys Robinson began her tenure as chief executive of Catholic Charities USA with a visit to agencies along the southwest border. “I wanted to see firsthand what the realities were," she explained.

Sandesh Gonsalves, who leads the Jesuit Refugee Service team in Afghanistan, reports that Afghans are struggling in the wake of a “massive” earthquake that struck on Oct. 7. According to U.N. sources, the humanitarian aid system in Afghanistan is already desperately overstretched and underfunded, with over 29 million Afghans in need of assistance.

While outright war conditions pertain in Gaza and along its border in southern Israel, in the north, in Jerusalem and the West Bank, conditions are also fraught. Violence between Palestinians and Israeli settlers has broken out sporadically.

"The operation launched from Gaza and the reaction of the Israeli Army are bringing us back to the worst period of our recent history," the patriarchate, led by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said in a statement.

There is a deeper problem than the chaos in the U.S. House: the question of what a government is for, and how it is to function beyond matters that a bare majority can vote through.