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Making sacrifices

By Mark Wilmoth Early Twentieth Century London might not seem like a breeding ground for Communism, but in 1903, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin were among the 50 or so attendees at the Second Congress of Social Democrats. Disillusioned and frustrated with the policies of Russia’s ruling family, these men discussed their desire for change and planned a revolution. The seeds planted in London at that Congress grew into the October Revolution of 1917 that gave birth to the Soviet Union. Speaking at that conference (held mostly in pubs, so that attendees could move ...

Pope Leo XIV makes first U.S. bishop appointment, fills San Diego vacancy

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, history’s first American pope, on Thursday made his first American bishop appointment as he named Bishop Michael Pham as bishop of San Diego, California. Pham, 58, is currently an auxiliary bishop in the diocese. He fills the vacancy created when Pope Francis named Cardinal Robert McElroy archbishop of Washington D.C. earlier this year. Pham, who was born in Da Nang, Vietnam, was ordained a priest in the San Diego diocese in 1999 and was made a bishop in 2023. He was in charge of programming for the dioceses’ ethnic groups and as of March had ...

In Syria, a Shiite shrine and community navigate a changed landscape

SAYYIDA ZEINAB, Syria (AP) — At the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, rituals of faith unfold: worshippers kneel in prayer, visitors raise their palms skyward or fervently murmur invocations as they press their faces against an ornate structure enclosing where they believe the granddaughter of ...

Who helps the helpers?

Did you know that between 300-400 doctors in the United States take their own life each year? Male physicians commit suicide at a rate 70% higher than the general population and the suicide rate for female physicians is 250-400% higher. Overall, 10% of medical doctors admit to contemplating suicide within the last year. Despite these statistics, state medical boards and physician accrediting agencies sometimes sanction doctors who seek help. Margot Savoy, Senior Vice President of Education for the American Academy of Family Physicians says, “As long as you can lose your career by ...

The pope’s doctoral thesis drew on St. Augustine’s idea of religious authority as service, not power

(AP) — The Rev. Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, wrote his doctoral thesis on the way local Augustinian superiors exercise authority, the university rector said Friday. It’s an issue that is perhaps newly relevant now that Prevost is the leader of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church. The way religious superiors exercise authority has long been a topic of study for scholars. In recent years it has come under renewed scrutiny in light of cases where such authority has been abused: When a superior takes advantage of his or her authority, and the obedience that is owed to him or ...

Museum opens at former factory in Czech Republic where Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews

BRNENEC, Czech Republic (AP) — A dilapidated industrial site in the Czech Republic where German businessman Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews during the World War II is coming back to life. The site, a former textile factory in the town of Brnenec, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Prague, was stolen by the Nazis from its Jewish owners in 1938 and turned into a concentration camp. This weekend it welcomed the first visitors to the Museum of Survivors dedicated to the Holocaust and the history of Jews in this part of Europe. The opening was timed to coincide with the 80th ...