Join the Conversation
Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more
Hiroshima, Japan -- The Japanese city hosts Wednesday its annual commemoration of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing by U.S. forces at the end of World War II in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. ambassador Caroline Kennedy. During the ceremony, which focuses on the horror of nuclear destruction and the need for nuclear abolition, Abe defends his recent decision to allow greater use of Japan's military forces.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. -- Local peace activists plan to hold a memorial Wednesday in memory of the Hiroshima bombing outside the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, the nation's main storage and processing site for bomb-grade uranium.
Kansas City, Mo. -- Local peace activists plan a similar ceremony for Aug. 9 to commemorate the bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the site of the Kansas City Plant, the nation's first new nuclear weapons facility in three decades.
South Korea -- As Pope Francis prepares to visit the country this month, tensions mount over the pontiff's planned visit to a center for physically and mentally disabled people.
Paraguay -- Local bishop says Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (future Pope Benedict XVI) personally vouched for a priest accused of sexual abuse.
Dublin -- Archbishop Diarmuid Martin says some of his seminarians are expressing frustration with Pope Francis, saying one young cleric even said the pontiff's actions and words "were not in line with what he had learned in the seminary." Martin encourages young seminarians to not be "closed in."
Vatican City -- Vatican bank books loss of 15 million euro in investment scheme to support Italian TV company, ordered in 2012 by former Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Vatican City -- Ahead of October's Vatican bishops' synod on family life issues, Cardinal Gerhard Muller releases a new book-length interview focused on the indissolubility of marriage. Muller, the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, claims indissolubility is not just Catholic doctrine, but a dogma of the church.
St. Louis -- A report by the Post-Dispatch on Catholics who prefer the Latin Mass finds that in the era of Pope Francis, the older Mass "appears to be alive and well."
From Global Sisters Report, NCR's partner publication devoted to covering the mission and ministry of Catholic women religious: A podcast with St. Joseph Sr. Elizabeth Johnson on the role of Mary, mother of Jesus: Where do you put a theology of Mary?
Looking for a little inspiration to begin your day? NCR's sister publication, Celebration, gives you two options, both based on the Scripture readings of the day:
Pencil Preaching is a blog in which Celebration editor Pat Marrin combines Scripture and sketching to reflect on the Word.
Daily Bread is a series of short reflections written by four authors who meet regularly to share the readings. Daily Bread is intended to help daily preachers and others who pray from the assigned Scriptures each day to orient themselves to the Living Word addressed to the church in the world. It's a great way to begin the day.
