By July 2025, the U.S. Agency for International Development effectively ceased to exist, with 85% of its programs cut. The result was that many in-country aid organizations also ceased operations. But not CRS.

The Republican Samaritans strike again!

"But down here under heaven There never was a chart To guide our way across This crooked highway of the heart And if it's only all about The journey in the end On that road I'm glad I came to know you, my old friend." youtu.be/JQu5l4ILoow?...

Via @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social and myself: How faith networks are building a safety net for immigrants released from detention. This includes some reporting from my visit to a church that has been housing immigrants, including at least six children. religionnews.com/2026/02/19/i...

Folks, want an excerpt from the book @deandettloff.bsky.social and I wrote? Look no further than @sojo.net sojo.net/magazine/mar...

As Catholic Workers we continue reaching for connection to those on the margins, no matter the obstacles, because that is our call. #thecatholicworker

Virgin Blessed https://www.wikiart.org/en/byzantine-mosaics/virgin-blessed-1320

Keller said they provided ashes to 4 detainees & 3 staffers. Fr. Leandro Fossá, who also entered the facility, said he saw "crying eyes, confusion, uncertainty" among detainiees. But he also claimed he saw them respond to "the hope of the moment that they could see the Church is there with them."

A favourite quote of Pope Francis. It appeared in his final Lenten message as Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 2013. #Lent #Chrysostom

Nearly two years before Monday's deadly shooting at a Pawtucket, R.I., hockey game, a son of the suspected shooter tried to burn down a Black Pentecostal church in Rhode Island and is serving time in federal prison.

I should NOT have laughed so hard at this. 😆

#Lent2026 #AshWednesday

‘To offer hope’: Syracuse bishop and clergy celebrate Ash Wednesday outside ICE office

Update: a spox for The Coalition for Spiritual & Public Leadership just told press outside the Broadview, IL ICE facility that, per one of the priests who just went inside, no one is now being held there. But the spox said he was informed a group of detainees is being brought in closer to 4 pm.

Appreciate shout-outs to 2 of my pieces (on Pete Hegseth & Doug Wilson) by @edkilgore.bsky.social in @nymag.com piece: "Talarico's Alternative to the MAGA Conquest of American Christianity" nymag.com/intelligence...

Pope Leo: “We perceive in the ashes imposed on us the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war. This is also reflected in the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, the ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples, the ashes of critical thinking.”

Rise and shine. Or at least give it a try.

"It’s also part of U2’s job to describe the world around us…what you might call our exterior life", #Bono says in propaganda.u2.com according to @aubreywrites.bsky.social in NME. #U2 #FightFascism

Quite a visual — an American pope on the streets.

This Ash Wednesday, we gathered to tell the truth, reject cruelty done in God’s name, and renew our commitment to justice and neighbor-love. ✨ We’re continuing this witness with a virtual prayer service later today. 🔗 buff.ly/jzUOTst

My new piece for @jacobinmag.bsky.social on American Christian Socialism and Gary Dorrien jacobin.com/2026/02/dorr...

Pete Hegseth is turning the Pentagon into a proving ground for aggressive Christian nationalism. This week he got some help from Doug Wilson. www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwat...

Wishing Ramadan Mubarak to all @provcollege.bsky.social faculty, staff, and students, and followers and friends, who are observing. May the spirit of #Ramadan illuminate your heart and fill your life with joy.

As we begin our journey through #Lent, let us ask the Lord to grant us the gift of true conversion of heart, so that we may better respond to His love for us and share that love with those around us.

"It’s a history and legacy of struggle — a model of selfless struggle and undaunted struggle that carries down generations." sojo.net/articles/how...

NEW: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, a Catholic, criticized Pope Leo XIV’s decision to decline President Trump’s invitation to join the proposed Gaza “Board of Peace.” The pope’s top Middle East envoy condemned the initiative as a pay-to-play “colonialist operation.”

Via #thecatholicworker By Monica Welch at DovetailInk

In a moment when cruelty is being normalized and rights are being stripped, Christians cannot be neutral. On Feb. 18, 8 PM ET, Pax Christi USA Exec Director Charlene Howard will be a speaker during a prayer service focused on prayer, lament, and moral clarity. Register at bit.ly/CalltoChrist....

For #EpigraphyTuesday we're in the porch of #SantaMaria in #Trastevere, where we find a long #inscription in #verse from about 200 CE, an #epitaph which is a love letter from a wife, Victoria, to her husband Rhodanthion, "Rose-flower", without any status indicators or surnames. #AncientBluesky 🏺

“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” —attributed to Leo Tolstoy

A federal district judge ruled that government authorities must allow clergy to minister to Broadview Processing Center detainees on Ash Wednesday this Feb. 18. sojo.net/articles/new...

BREAKING #Vatican Secretary of State Declines President Trump's Invitation to the Board of Peace www.catholicnewsworld.com/2026/02/brea...

#birdbot

Rest in power Jesse Jackson. Here's a playlist featuring speeches, lyrics, samples and tributes ▶️ open.spotify.com/playlist/1Lu...

Sign up to read about faith and justice at work in the world. sojo.net/subscription...

From Dan McGowan: What can’t be lost in another mass shooting in Rhode Island are the people at the center of it. Athletes, families, fans, and first responders will carry images of the day long after the cameras leave.

A new pope's first Lent offers a glimpse into his pastoral instincts and how he situates himself in relation to his predecessors.

Currently at 719,000 views. I expect it to be in the millions by end of day. Colbert’s forbidden/banned interview with Texas State Rep James Talarico. youtu.be/oiTJ7Pz_59A

Wow.

This is one of the best speeches in 20th century American politics. RIP

Jesse Jackson's campaign was the first and only presidential campaign I ever worked on (in Delaware back when I was a grad student.) He was one of the most inspiring American voices we have had in decades. God bless all those who mourn his passing.

"Shrove Tuesday, it was rightly decided, should be celebrated by the eating of pancakes." Padraic Colum celebrates cakes, friendship, and Shrove Tuesday in this 1931 piece from our archives: www.commonwealmagazine.org/cakes

Rev. Jesse Jackson's "I *am* somebody..." remains one of the all-time great pieces of 20th century rhetoric / agitprop And he could deliver it at a Black separatist meeting, the Democratic National Convention, or on god-blessed Sesame Street (see below 🥹) RIP to the Voice of the Voiceless

#LRP the commitment in question brings to mind what the author of The Cloud of Unknowing described as “naked entent (intent) directe vnto God” also a “clene will” (clean, chaste, or pure will) ie dilectio

Happy Lunar New Year! 🧧✨ You’re stepping into a new year with hopes, plans, and questions. In the Year of the Horse 🐎, may courage replace fear, movement break stagnation, and hope lead the way. Keep going - this new year is calling you forward. 🌙

Previewed tonight on Rachel Maddow, Cardinal Cupich to celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass and Procession in solidarity with immigrants; the move comes just days after a judge ruled that priests and ministers must be allowed into Broadview Detention Center to minister to migrants. Official invitation here…

Another tragic shooting in Rhode Island. 😭😠

"What the despisers don't realize is that choosing to view another as inconsequential desecrates them as much as their victim." #LiveTheGospel #LoveEachOther #PrayForAmerica www.ncronline.org/spirituality...

"Leaving could be faithful. Staying could be faithful. And everything in between could be faithful — so long as it is done out of a sense of freedom, a sense of free love, and service to others." sojo.net/articles/opi... sojo.net/articles/opi...

Amid ICE raids, Minneapolis rabbi and pastor show solidarity in action