When international students arrive to study in the US, life can be harder than expected. Some universities have found that religious chaplains can help students make the transition. While mental health is stigmatized in some countries, spiritual care is not. As a result, student chaplains have become de facto front-line mental health care providers.
Al-Iraqiya news recently started a Syriac-language broadcast in an attempt to preserve the ancient language, which derives from Aramaic, the original language of the Bible and Jesus. They are based in Baghdad. People at the network and in the Iraqi Christian community talk about what this means for them.
Since the Brexit vote of 2016, hundreds of thousands of Britons have applied for citizenship of European countries, allowing them to continue to work and travel freely while holding onto their British passport. Thousands have been able to acquire passports of other European nations through sometimes distant Jewish roots.
Police in London report that antisemitic attacks increased by more than 1,350% in the first two weeks of October, amid war between Israel and Hamas. The country’s small, close-knit Jewish community is saying the British government isn’t doing enough to protect them.
More than 450 church leaders from around the world came to the Vatican in early October to debate this and other questions during the latest synod, a monthlong meeting to discuss the church’s future. Their conclusion: more research is needed.