WASHINGTON – No sooner had President Donald Trump finished his Jan. 8 nine-minute speech, his first such event televised in prime time from the Oval Office, about what he termed a crisis at the border, than Catholic groups and others began tearing apart his arguments.
Published in International
WASHINGTON – Nationwide efforts to confront human trafficking received a boost in the new year as President Donald Trump signed a bill reauthorizing federal expenditures for prevention and assistance programs across the federal government.
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It’s easy to look around and be pessimistic. Public and household debt levels are alarmingly high in Canada. The Church is roiling from one abuse scandal to another. So many parts of the world seem in chaos with rampant corruption, wars and terrorism.

Published in Register Columnists

The televised funeral of George Herbert Walker Bush at the Washington National Cathedral was a reminder of times when the office of the U.S. President worked for bipartisanship, decency and decorum.

Published in Robert Brehl
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has signed into law the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018, which will provide humanitarian relief to genocide victims in Iraq and Syria and hold accountable Islamic State perpetrators of genocide.
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The other day, I went to pay my respects to the widow and two children of a friend and neighbor whom I played pick-up hockey with for several years. He was only 55.

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A peacemaker

Re: Reflections of a nation in a time of grief (Nov. 18):

Fr. J.A. McDonagh’s account of the events following John F. Kennedy’s assassination was remarkable. Reflecting on the tragedy, he wrote: “Nothing will be the same again until merciful time has weighed all the evidence produced.” 

Published in Letters to the editor
MEXICO CITY – The chaotic scene in Tijuana Nov. 25 -- when migrants, including women and children, were repelled from the U.S. border with tear gas -- prompted the closure of one of the world's busiest border crossings. It also showed the increasing impatience and despair of thousands of caravan participants, who could spend months in an uncomfortable camp as they wait to present asylum claims to U.S. officials.
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Just when one thinks the current president of the United States can’t do anything more brazen, he trumps that belief and goes one further.

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WASHINGTON  – Late Oct. 6, despite the interruptions of screaming protesters who had to be escorted from the gallery that oversees the Senate chamber, U.S. senators voted 50-48 to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh as the newest justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Published in International
WASHINGTON – A Novena for the Legal Protection of Human Life is being led by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Catholics are being encouraged to take part ahead of the Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
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You could almost hear the champagne corks popping below the border when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his resignation. 

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MCALLEN, Texas – The journey for many of the new migrants entering the U.S. near the border town of McAllen involves a mix of hardship and blessings.
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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced July 9 that his nominee for the Supreme Court is Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge in Washington and a Catholic who once clerked for retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
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WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced June 27, the last day of the Supreme Court's current term, that he is retiring July 31.
Published in International