Sarah Salvadore
Local Knights of Columbus council denounces ...

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pose outside the St. John Paul II National Shrine June 2 in Washington, the 41st anniversary of beginning of pope's 1979 historic visit to Poland. (CNS/Reuters/Tom Brenner)

Local Knights of Columbus council denounces Trump visit to DC shrine
Race, Politics, Religion
Sarah Salvadore
Catholic activists protest Trump's visit to St. ...

A woman religious and protesters in Washington gather near the Capuchin College June 2 as President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited the nearby St. John Paul II National Shrine. (CNS/Tyler Orsburn)

Catholic activists protest Trump's visit to St. John Paul II Shrine

Year after accused priest goes on leave, NJ parish remains pastorless

Year after accused priest goes on leave, NJ parish remains pastorless

The allegations date back to 1988. Fr. Desmond Rossi, a priest of the Diocese of Albany, New York, accused Weiner and another priest, now deceased, of sexual assault at St. Benedict Parish in Newark. Rossi, a seminarian at the time, said two transitional deacons assaulted him in the rectory after a night of drinking. While one of them threw him on the bed and began kissing him, the other tried to force oral sex on him. Rossi identified Weiner as one of the attackers. An archdiocesan review board found the charges credible but unproven, and Weiner was allowed to continue as a priest.

India's Christians, Muslims face higher persecution since Modi government

India's Christians, Muslims face higher persecution since Modi government

When India's Hindu nationalist party, the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), declared victory for the second time in the general elections this year, a sense of unease engulfed the country's minority communities, who make up 18.2% of the country's population. Since 2014, under Modi's watch, religious persecution rose.

Cardinal Tobin leads hundreds of Catholics in protest against ICE in Newark

Over 400 participants — priests, nuns, activists, students and laypeople — on Sept. 4 in Newark, New Jersey, protested the "inhumane treatment" and detention of children and families at immigration centers across the country. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark led hundreds of Catholics in a demonstration against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Federal Building in Newark as the crowd chanted, "Stop the inhumanity."

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As climate effects hit coffee crops, Guatemalan farmers become migrants

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Many Central Americans arriving at the U.S. southern border are escaping a toxic mix of gang violence, poverty and corruption. But for record numbers of Guatemalans deciding to emigrate more recently, the root cause appears to be climate change and the devastating effect it has had on that country's coffee crop.

Kerala nun rape case: A moment of reckoning for the Church in India

Kerala nun rape case: A moment of reckoning for the Church in India

Never before have nuns broken rank with the Church to protest in public over what they perceive a miscarriage of justice. A nun from the Missionaries of Jesus near Kottayam in Kerala, has accused Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal of rape. The nun alleged that she was sexually assaulted 13 times, between 2014 and 2016. Bishop Mulakkal also happens to be the head of the congregation.

When Deportation Is a Death Sentence: By Sarah Stillman

When Deportation Is a Death Sentence: By Sarah Stillman

By Sarah Stillman

“This story was produced in collaboration with the Global Migration Project, at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Fellows include: Annie Hylton, Anjali Tsui, Sarah Salvadore, Divya Kumar, Astha Rajvanshi, Chris Gelardi, Yemile Bucay, Micah Hauser, and Noor Ibrahim.”

“There Was So Much Violence Around. I Felt So Alone. I Wanted to See My Mother.”

“There Was So Much Violence Around. I Felt So Alone. I Wanted to See My Mother.”

On the afternoon of Nov. 9, 2015, 17-year-old Sofia* and her 3-year-old brother, Samuel, crossed the Rio Grande into Texas. Traveling with five other children, they were attempting to reach the United States from Mexico. Sofia’s feet had swelled severely on the long journey from Honduras, her home country. She was also seven months pregnant at that time—and one among the growing number of pregnant and parenting teens appearing at the U.S.–Mexico border.

“They Said We Would Pay With Our Lives”

“They Said We Would Pay With Our Lives”

Julia was not yet a teenager when members of Mara Salvatrucha in her small hometown in central El Salvador began to threaten her with sexual assault. Her neighborhood had always felt quiet and safe, she said. But things started to change when she entered fourth grade and her classmates began to join the gang, which is also known as MS-13. Soon, gang members were attempting to recruit her cousin, who was the same age as Julia, and her brother, who was a year older.

Bangladeshis split on the lines of free speech

Bangladeshis split on the lines of free speech

Bangladesh is grappling with the issue of freedom of speech and expression. This year alone four bloggers were hacked to death in Bangladesh for speaking out against Islamic fundamentalism, and Oct. 31 attacks killed publisher Faysal Arefin and grievously injured writers Ranadeep Basu and Tariq Ahmed and publisher Ahmed Rahim Tutul. Among those killed by the Islamic militant organization Ansarullah Bangla Team was blogger Avijit Roy, a New Yorker and the founder of the website Mukto-Mona.