US Catholic Faith in Real Life

Why so many risk it all to cross the border

U.S. intervention has laid the groundwork for decades of civil war in Latin America that is driving migrants north.

By Kevin Clarke | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article News

Watching a huddled mass escape Central America this fall inspired an urge among many to rush to the border with food and water, while others chose to politicize the spectacle with calumny and disdain. President Trump ginned up his base before the midterm elections by repeatedly describing the so-called migrant caravan as an “invasion.”

Kevin Clarke is a writer living in New York.

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What’s happening at the border is a crime against our collective humanity

When you bury a child, you bury the future.

By Father Bryan Massingale | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
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In TV courtroom dramas such as CSI or Law and Order, the medical examiner’s testimony often plays a key role. By examining a victim’s wounds, you can discern much about the circumstances surrounding a death. The body’s wounds can tell, for example, the kind of gun used in a crime, the time lapsed between the lethal event and the body’s discovery; the strength possessed by an aggressor; the size of the culprit’s hands, perhaps even a possible motive—such as wether the death was accidental or intended. All of this is revealed from an analysis of the body’s injuries.

Bryan Massingale is a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University in New York. He is the author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church (Orbis, 2010).

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Want to fight for families on the border? Take a cue from these nuns

The fight to protect undocumented immigrants is tougher than ever, but two dedicated nuns show no signs of stopping.

By Kim Bellware | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Justice News
Just after sunrise on a below-freezing January morning, a huddle of people gathered outside a nondescript Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in the Chicago suburb of Broadview for a vigil the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants (ICDI) has been holding every week for more than 11 years. 
 

Kim Bellware is a Chicago-based freelance reporter covering politics, crime, and culture.

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How new laws are preventing voters from casting their ballot

By Kristen Hannum | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
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New laws restricting voting rights hit African Americans and the poor particularly hard. That, of course, is no coincidence.

Kristen Hannum is a freelance journalist based in Denver, Colorado.

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Arresting development: The faith community should slow urban sprawl

By Meghan Murphy-Gill | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article

Editors' note: Sounding Board is one person’s take on a many-sided subject and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of U.S. Catholic, its editors, or the Claretians.

Meghan Murphy-Gill is a writer living in Chicago. Read more from her at meghanmurphygill.com.

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Full of surprises: Pope Benedict’s unexpected social justice legacy

By Kevin Clarke | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
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Pope Benedict kept us guessing—especially on matters of social justice.

Kevin Clarke is a writer living in New York.

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A mother's struggle with her son's incarceration

By Scott Alessi | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article

Luisa Borrego didn’t know much about the prison system before her son, at only 14 years old, was arrested after being in the back seat of a car during a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. He was convicted of murder and now, at age 20, is serving a sentence of 50 years to life.

Scott Alessi is a former editor at U.S. Catholic.

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A model for justice: Restorative practices in New Zealand

By Scott Alessi | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article

Since it was first pioneered in the mid-1970s, restorative justice has been used in criminal justice cases throughout the world. But nowhere has the practice taken more of a hold—and shown more promising results—than New Zealand.

Scott Alessi is a former editor at U.S. Catholic.

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Truth and consequences: When crime victims and offenders meet

By Scott Alessi | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article
With U.S. incarceration rates at an unsustainable high, crime victims are taking the lead in an effort to rehabilitate offenders.

Scott Alessi is a former editor at U.S. Catholic.

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Caste off: The plight of Catholic Dalits in India

By Megan Sweas | Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
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Catholic Dalits (untouchables) in India are divided over how to improve their lot.

Franklin Caesar Thomas and R. L. Francis both attend Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi. Though the two lay activists with similar backgrounds may be polite on Sundays, they don’t like each other.

Megan Sweas is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.

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