News Items

The Forum regularly posts news articles of interest here from a variety of sources and news outlets. You can check back here or view the most recent ones from the homepage. We also archive these articles here, for those doing research, with news going back to 2006. Use the menu on the right to explore the archived articles.

News

Iowa's Catholic churches go solar to heed pope's call on climate change

August 21, 2017
By Kevin Hardy
Des Moines Register

NORWALK, Ia. — As the sun beat down on a recent Saturday afternoon, the mammoth air conditioning system at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church offered welcome relief to parishioners trickling in for evening Mass. 

While churchgoers filled the pews and hymns filled the sanctuary, 206 solar panels overhead converted the...

Eclipse thrills, inspires viewers to admire the precision of creation

August 21, 2017
By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service

HOPKINSVILLE, KY – Science teacher Jane Irwin isn’t often left without words, but the total solar eclipse left her in a quiet reflective mood.

“Awesome. God’s amazing” was the best she could muster after the sun reappeared from behind the moon after totality Aug. 21.

How art and spirituality are defining the 'water protectors'

Much of the Indigenous activism that we see in Canada is being led by Indigenous women

By Lenard Monkman
CBC News
August 19, 2017

Women have been on the frontline of much of the land and water-related Indigenous activism that we see in Canada today. In the fight for clean water, this style of activism has seen art and spirituality go hand in hand....

'Pray for the waters': Great Water Gathering brings Indigenous, non-Indigenous protectors together

Traditionally known as ‘water carriers,’ women take on role as protectors of water

By Lenard Monkman
CBC News
August 18, 2017

Aldeen Mason is a grandmother now, but she still remembers swimming in the Winnipeg River, in her home community of Sagkeeng First Nation. However, her favourite place to swim was also downstream from the local paper mill.

Oceania bishops discuss oceans, but also visit homeless, high school

August 15, 2017
By Michael Otto, Catholic News Service
National Catholic Reporter

Auckland, New Zealand — Church leaders from Oceania, meeting in New Zealand to discuss protecting the oceans, also served meals to the homeless and met with Pacific Islander high school students.

A cardinal from Papua New Guinea, an archbishop from New Caledonia, and four...

Eastern Spirituality Could Help Sustainable Development

August 14, 2017
By Kalinga Seneviratne
InDepthNews

This article is the 18th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the ...

This Is How Indigenous Peoples Help Curb Gas Emissions, End Hunger

August 10, 2017
By IPS World Desk
Inter Press Service News Agency

ROME (IPS) - A third of global forests, crucial for curbing gas emissions, are primarily managed by indigenous peoples, families, smallholders and local communities, according to the United Nations.

'Indigenous peoples are the best guardians of world's biodiversity'

August 9, 2017
By David Hill
The Guardian

Today is the United Nations’ (UN) International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, numbering an estimated 370 million in 90 countries and speaking roughly 7,000 languages. To mark it, the Guardian interviews Kankanaey Igorot woman Victoria Tauli-Corpuz about the UN’s...

Eckerd College Hillel's Scubi Jew Aims To Save The Seas

By Erica Snow
August 8, 2017
The Forward

Scubi Jew at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida isn’t your typical Jewish a cappella group or service club. Instead, it explores coral reefs and leads underwater cleanup sessions. Members don’t have to be Jewish to go on a dive — just scuba-certified, of course...

"We're Ready to Stop It Again": KXL Opponents Flood Nebraska's Capitol

August 7, 2017
By Jessica Corbett
Common Dreams

Hundreds demonstrated in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Sunday as part of the March to Give Keystone XL the Boot.

The protest of TransCanada’s proposed pipeline kicked off a week of events planned to coincide with public hearings, set to begin Monday, by the Nebraska...

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