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Bridget Ryder is a freelance writer based in Spain.
Pope Francis and four French bishops make the sign of the cross during silent prayer for the victims of abuses committed by members of the clergy, prior to the pope's general audience at the Vatican on Oct. 6, 2021. The bishops were visiting Rome following a report on sexual abuse in France that estimates more than 200,000 children were abused by priests since 1950, and more than 100,000 others were abused by lay employees of church institutions. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
FaithDispatches
Bridget Ryder
The report landed on French Catholics like a bomb. French bishops had never considered sexual abuse a serious problem. “We have been in denial for 20 years,” Father Goujon said. “The bishops said that [that kind of abuse] could never happen here.”
Demonstrators confront law enforcement officers during a protest in Warsaw, Poland, Jan. 28, 2021, against the verdict restricting abortion rights. After a ban on aborting disabled children came into force, Poland's Catholic Church urged "all possible help" for pregnant women and single mothers. (CNS photo/Kacper Pempel, Reuters)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
A grassroots pro-life movement is emerging across the continent with elements that seem straight from the U.S. pro-life playbook. Could a U.S.-style culture war be brewing in Europe?
People mainly from Morocco stand on the shore as the Spanish Army cordons off a beach at the border of Morocco and Spain in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on May 18. Ceuta faced a humanitarian crisis after thousands of Moroccans took advantage of relaxed border control in their country to swim or paddle in inflatable boats into European soil. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
Relations between Morocco and Spain are complex, fraught with clashing political and economic interests—with thousands of migrants caught in the middle.
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
Spanish bishops published their own letter on the issue last December, “Sowers of Hope,” in which they reminded Catholics that “there is no one that can’t be cared for even if they are incurable.”
Demonstrations in November were conducted all over Spain against the ‘Ley Celaá.’ Photo courtesy of Mas Plurales.
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
A new law threatens the viability of government-supported Catholic schools in Spain.
Newly arrived migrants are transferred by Spanish police to a temporary location after arriving at the coast of Gran Canaria island, Spain, on Nov. 1. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean sailing on a wooden boat, a group of 44 migrants had arrived at Maspalomas beach. (AP Photo/Javier Bauluz)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Bridget Ryder
So far this year, over 16,760 migrants have survived clandestine voyages from Africa’s west coast to Spain’s Canary Islands, more than 5,500 arriving over just the last two weeks.