In an essay for The Pillar examining the case of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the official anti-poverty program of the US Conference of Catholic bishops (USBB), Brendan Hodge questions why the program has spent well in excess of its revenues in recent years. After examining several possible explanations, he concludes:

However, given that the depletion of resources was a clear multi-year trend, and that 2023’s spend down must have been very obvious to leadership of the program and of the USCCB, it is entirely possible that this represents a premeditated end to this phase of the bishops’ flagship poverty program.

Before leaving East Timor on the last leg of his 12-day journey, Pope Francis met with young people in Dili and encouraged them to “wreak havoc, make a mess.”

In his offhand remarks to the group the Pope spoke of respect for the elderly, but emphasized the energy that young people should use to bring change to society.

Pope Francis arrived in Singapore on September 11 to begin the final visit of his 12-day trip to Asia and Oceania.

Arriving in the afternoon on a flight from East Timor, the Pontiff was greeted at Changi International Airport by government and Church officials. He was due to meet with members of the Jesuit order later in the day at the St. Francis Xavier Retreat Center.

In contrast to East Timor, which is overwhelmingly Catholic, Singapore has only a small Catholic population, making up only 3.5% of the country’s people. Buddhists account for the largest religious group in Singapore, accounting for roughly one-third of the population in a society with an extraordinarily wide range of religious groups.

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“From long experience, I have learned that there is nothing like Holy Water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back again." - Saint Teresa of Avila

"I considered the priesthood when I became a Catholic," actor James Earl Jones said in a 1986 television interview.

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