Poverty

  • The vacuum where leaders should be

    Politics and institutions are increasingly governed by risk management, not leadership. But real leadership requires imagination, courage and the willingness to challenge false stories. Of course, there are Trump, Netanyahu, Putin, Xi, Kim, and the Ayatollahs, who run their worlds according to their own storyline. But none in any meaningful way serve democracies. But are…

    The vacuum where leaders should be
  • The poor don’t debate climate change — they survive it

    The poor do not discuss climate change in conference halls. They encounter it at noon, under a tin roof, on a construction site, beside a dry hand pump, in a field where the soil has turned to powder, or in a flooded lane where schoolbooks float like dead birds. For them, climate change is not…

    The poor don’t debate climate change — they survive it
  • Knowledge without borders belongs to everyone

    True progress isn’t measured by innovation alone, but by whether AI serves people with no leverage, voice, or seat at the table.

    Knowledge without borders belongs to everyone
  • Service, not imposition: the church’s place in public life

    Leo insists the church respects political autonomy, affirming separation of church and state andrejects Christian nationalism outright.

    Service, not imposition: the church’s place in public life
  • I’m giving up Trump for Lent

    Lent is traditionally a season of penance, prayer and self-examination. For Tom Reese, the most honest act of penance he can manage is admitting that his Trump consumption has become compulsive, corrosive and entirely optional — and, while not claiming perfect resolve, choosing, for 40 days, to stop.

    I’m giving up Trump for Lent
  • From Gaza to Heaven: One church

    The Communion of Saints is not a tidy diagram of heavenly categories, but a living, breathing mystery. The boundaries are porous. Those struggling in war zones or poverty share something real with the canonised. All are caught up in one story of grace.

    From Gaza to Heaven: One church
  • Beyond statistics: poverty is personal

    Poverty wears a human face. We see it in those we pass on the street and, at times, in ourselves. This reflection calls us to compassion and solidarity—to stand with and for the poor, and to rediscover the shared humanity that poverty obscures.

    Beyond statistics: poverty is personal
  • The burden borne by poor women

    Women, Leo points out, suffer disproportionately from poverty, violence, and exclusion. Quoting Pope Francis, he affirms their dignity and heroic witness. Yet, the exhortation raises questions about whether the church’s actions match its words on gender equality.

    The burden borne by poor women
  • Young faith grows; liturgy must meet it

    Vatican II calls the Eucharist the “source and summit” of Christian life. That conviction invites priests and people to recover the art of celebrating: words we can hear, gestures that include, and a table we gather around. Renewal in worship nourishes renewal in faith and mission.

    Young faith grows; liturgy must meet it
  • The fragile gains of global progress

    The world’s poorest are being asked to bear the cost of a system rigged against them. With declining development aid and rising debt repayments, hope is fading fast for millions whose lives are treated as disposable.

    The fragile gains of global progress

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