With the liberation of parts of Iraq from ISIS in 2017, Iraq’s Christians returned home to two unwelcome developments. Their homes had been burned, looted or destroyed by ISIS and Iran-backed groups who helped defeat ISIS—known as Popular Mobilization Forces—now controlled their towns.
Pope Francis has authorized the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints to promulgate a decree recognizing the martyrdom of Grande and his two lay companions. This suggests that they may soon be beatified—that is, declared “blessed”—most likely in a ceremony in El Salvador later this year.
Last November, 85.8 percent of voting students—2,438 in total—supported a nonbinding referendum that urged university trustees to sell off the then-10.6 percent of the university endowment that was invested in fossil fuel corporations by 2025.
The United States designates senior military officers as being directly responsible for the murders of six Jesuits and two others on the grounds of the University of Central America in 1989, a historic moment for justice in El Salvador.
Smiles have been plentiful at St. Ethelreda since Jan. 29, when the Big Shoulders Fund and the Archdiocese of Chicago announced a partnership that will inject more than $92 million into 30 Catholic schools.