Religious Freedom

As an uneasy calm returned to the Congolese city of Goma, following a unilateral ceasefire declared by the rebels, people began burying the dead, and agencies rushed aid to thousands of displaced civilians, now camping in churches and schools.

Amid tragic escalation of violence in Congo, Bishop Willy Ngumbi Ngengele of Goma has assured the people of the church’s closeness and compassion, as rebels entered the eastern city of Goma, forcing thousands to flee and triggering wave of looting and deaths.

On Jan. 27, as the world commemorated the 80th anniversary of the liberation of German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau — where 216,000 Jewish children, among 231,000 children from various nations, perished, Mother Matylda was being remembered as a beacon of hope in the midst of Nazi horrors and as one that saved hundreds of Jewish children.

Poland’s Catholic primate has accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government of pandering to anti-church feeling, after it unveiled new plans to downgrade religious teaching in the traditionally Catholic country.