Sixteen months after my visit to the soil we call holy, the violence and bloodshed persist. Hamas still uses innocent lives as hostages even as the Israeli military continues its onslaught, flattening Gaza.
To administer the sacraments to those who are unprepared or unwilling to live in union with the gospel’s demands may be the path of least resistance for pastors, but it is no great favor to recipients.
T. O. Brandon has won first place for his poem “Madonna and Child (after Giotto).” Brian Brodeur has won second place for “Not Versed in Country Things,” which describes the slow restoration of an old barn.
With this deal, Armenia seeks to buy time. The concessions it has made are painful, though. It formally accepts Azeri sovereignty over Artsakh, abandoning any claim to the region. The draft makes no reference to the 2023 ethnic cleansing or the possibility that refugees might one day return.
Like many Catholic religious communities and dioceses, and other Christian and non-Christian religious groups as well, Glenmary depends in part on members from outside the U.S. For instance, two-thirds of our members under fifty years of age are from abroad.
