UPDATED (again): A Halloween Round Up

As we draw closer to the annual celebration of Halloween, we are likely to see repeated claims that Halloween is, at its root, pagan and even Satanic. This, of course, is simply not true and the origins of the celebrations as they have down to us today are a bit convoluted.

To help you prepare for Halloween and maybe to learn a little something or two, here are a few links that may be of interest to you (some of which I've posted before):

• Truth About Halloween: The Real Story, by Father Augustine Thompson, O.P.

• The Drama of Hallowmas, by Sally Thomas

• Catholic Answers to Your Halloween Questions, by Christina Mead

• Halloween or Samhain? by Jon Sorensen

• Are Ouija boards harmless? 

• An Open Letter to My Sisters this Halloween, by AaronHostetter

• All Things Spooky, by Mark Shea

• It's Time for Catholics to Embrace Halloween, by Fr. Steve Grunow

• Halloween: Another secularization of a Catholic tradition, by Dave Luecking

• I'm So Done With Apologizing For Halloween, by Frank Weathers

• Why Christians Should Love Halloween, byRachel Lu

• Who's Afraid of All Hallows' Eve? by Megham McNally 

• Of Halloween Candy and Evangelization, by Jonathan Sullivan

• Halloween or Samhain, by Jon Sorenson 

• How Candy Conquered Halloween, by Virginia Postrel 

• Thou shalt not kill the undead? What the Catechism says about zombies, by Daniel Bearman 

• Think Halloween isn't Chatholic? Think again, by Emily Stimpson 

• The long, twisted history of All Hallows' Eve, by Mark Shea

Cardinal George's homily on Father Tolton and on saints

One month ago today, His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, concluded the final phase of the diocesan investigation into the life and virtues of the Servant of God Father Augustus Tolton by giving his signature to the final documents and sealing the acts to be sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. It was an important day in the history of the Archdiocese, the history of Illinois, and in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States of America, and I remain very happy I was able to be present.

I noticed this morning that a video recording of the ceremony, conducted within the context of Midday Prayer, has been posted to the web site of the Cause:

This semester, I have Wednesdays free, so I took the opportunity today to transcribe the homily preached that day by Cardinal George:

In these days, as I look towards retirement, people often ask, “What do you think was most important in what happened, or what you did or what happened to you, in the seventeen years and more that you served the People of God in this Archdiocese as their Archbishop?” And there are many truly important, significant events in the Church and in society that fill these years - sometimes to joy, sometimes with sorrow - but I truly believe that the introduction of the Cause of Father Augustus Tolton whose sanctity, recognized by the Church, is one of the most important – if not the most important – events of these past seventeen years. At least unique events. The sacramental life of the Church is, of course, event by event, always most important in terms that it puts us in contact with the Risen Lord. But in terms of ecclesiastical actions, there are many things that are unique, but few that are as unique as this.

The Church over the centuries has ordained many priests, most of them quite holy, in small ways, some in very great ways, some in martyrs, some who betrayed the priesthood and themselves. And in recent years in this country, we have heard a lot, haven’t we, about priests who have betrayed their priesthood and betrayed young people, and those wounds will be with us for generations to come and remain in the lives of victims whom we talk to and watch the way in which evil, even in forgiven people, has long-ranging consequences. But virtue also has long-ranging consequences, and virtue is stronger than evil, forgiveness is great than sin.

In the case of Father Tolton, it was important that there be a name of a holy priest, from our history, long before the current history in the current development in the Archdiocese, which happened really only after his death in the way in which we experience it now, very important that would recognize that from the beginning this Diocese has been served by priests who have been made holy by the Lord because they have loved his people as ordained priests.

And Father Tolton was such a one, in love with Christ and his Church and suffered much in order to be ordained a priest and dedicated himself entirely to his people, quietly and in his own way. Each saint has his own personality, her own of looking at things, but each of them is a friend of the Lord and to make that friendship public and to do it in a way that assures people that here is an exemplar, assures people that here is an intercessor, assures people that here is someone whom we want to be friends with now and for eternity, that is a very important thing to do.

History is what God remembers; the rest passes.  In the Church, therefore, we have a very different sense of what is important in the history of the human race, for it isn’t a story of individual progress in freedom that is important - although freedom is also a Gospel virtue and we were created free and should use our freedom well – but that’s important only if it also helps us to advance in holiness. The Church’s history is the history of holiness, not the history of conquests of freedoms of various sorts, which is why we celebrate the death of saints, for that is when they are confirmed in holiness; that is when we know that they are with the Lord forever, whereas the civic calendar holidays are not holy days at all. They celebrate the birth of someone who in the course of his lifetime or her lifetime will do something of importance for society. Our calendars are very different because our sense of history is very different. So here we have, we hope, in time, a new date in our calendar of heroes, a new moment to tell all of us that we are here to become saints; everything else is of very, very secondary importance.

It’s often in our society today as we read the papers and contemplate what is going on and try to rearrange the mission of the Church in such a way that she can be a leaven for God’s grace, we recognize that our country can be a very good place in which to be free. That is still true and we should rejoice in that, but it can also be a very difficult place in which to be holy and that is, in the end, the way we will all be judged.

And so it is our responsibility, as members of Christ’s Body, the Church, throughout the world, to act in place after place in such a way that people will realize that sanctity is not only possible, sanctity is our goal. Sanctity is what God wants for us. Sanctity is what gives us the promise that will not only be saved, but that we will be truly saints, that we will be friends with the Lord for all eternity. Father Augustus Tolton’s cause gives us further certitude in that conviction and I thank God that we are able to bring the Diocesan part of the preparation for his sanctity to conclusion today.

Bishop Perry thanked many people, he’s welcomed many people, so perhaps many of those same people I can thank even as they’ve been made welcome. Doctor Ambrosi, the Postulator, is not here but he’s worked hard, he’s very skilled at this, and he’s helped us a lot. But the Vice Postulator, the Diocesan Postulator, in charge here has been from the beginning Bishop Joseph Perry, who has given himself to this task in ways that, as we all know who know Joe, are very thorough, very quiet, very unassuming, and very, very, effective. And so I thank him. I thank the episcopal delegate, the promoter of justice, ecclesiastical notaries, the historical commission members, the theological commission members, all of those who have fulfilled their tasks in accordance with the instruction given us by the Holy See to assemble the acts so that they can be sent now to the Holy See in order to be processed along with all the reports of favors received so that perhaps, if is God’s will, we will at, some point, many of us at least, some of us, be able to talk about Saint Augustus Tolton, priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

If you do not love & respect our Holy Father because he does not think like you - PLEASE unfriend yourself from my page! Where were these admonitions under Pope Benedict?

I saw this morning that a priest-classmate of mine "liked" a status update written by another priest. The update reads as follows:

Ok, I have had it! If you are one of those who will not love and respect our Holy Father because he does not think like you - PLEASE unfriend yourself from my page! I do not want to continue to read the slander of people who call themselves Catholic and spit on the Chair of Peter! As the saints have said "where there is Peter there is the Church [sic]! You do not have to agree with Pope Francis but you must love and respect him! I will die to defend him!

I should first like to point that rather than asking others to "unfriend" on social media sites because you do not like their posts, it seems more appropriate for you to "unfriend" them yourself. Be that as it may, I should next like to say that his request is not the only one along these lines I have seen.

There seems to be little toleration these days on social media sites for anyone who disagrees with Pope Francis, and very often disagreeing with him about matters which relate more to questions of prudential judgments (for example, how best to address a pastoral concern or how to phrase a particular concern) - on which people of good will and of good faith can legitimately disagree - are quickly interpreted as "hating" or "disrespecting" Pope Francis. However, sometimes, as Phil Lawler recently pointed out, sometimes disagreeing with an individual Pope is a sign of respect for the papacy. Cardinal Burke recently said something similar, as well.

There are certainly those who take their criticisms - whether just or unjust - of some of Pope Francis' decisions or methods of arriving at certain decisions too far. This is why there are several Catholic blogs I do not read. But there were Catholics who did the same with Benedict XVI.

This is what most struck me about the status update quoted above: As I said, I have seen several similar postings on social media sites regarding those who strongly disagreeing with Pope Francis, but I do not remember ever seeing the same people say the same against those who vehemently disagreed with Benedict XVI. Where were the calls for civil decency then? Where the offers to lay down their lives for the predecessor of Pope Francis? Where were the demands for respect and love?

Please, I am not criticizing any one particular person with this post; that is certainly not my intent. The status update above, rather, provides an occasion to ask a few important questions about how we use social media and how we speak about and relate to the person of the Pope.

Pope Francis clearly has tremendous admiration for his predecessor, of whom he recently spoke very highly:

Benedict XVI: a great Pope. Great for the strength and penetration of his intelligence; great for his important contribution to theology; great for his love in addressing the Church and human beings; great for his virtue and his religiosity.

Pope Francis has repeatedly referred to Benedict XVI as a grandfather;it may be time for others to do the same.

Tolton: A priest who might have been martyred and a story that needs to be told - But our help is needed

Right up until the eve of his ordination as a priest of Jesus Christ, the Servant of God Augustus Tolton thought the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith would send him as a missionary to Africa. That, after all, had been the plan all along and the reason he spent the previous six years studying the history and cultures of the African continent.

Shortly before his ordination to the priesthood, then-Deacon Gus wrote to Father Michael Richardt, O.F.M., through whose efforts Gus was first accepted at the Propaganda, to inform the friar that, "My seminary studies are about over now and I will go on to Africa right after my ordination in April."

In her biography of Father Tolton - From Slave to Priest: A Biography of the Rev. Augustine Tolton (1854-1897), First Afro-American Priest of the United States, which was first published by Franciscan Herald Press in 1973 and has been republished by Ignatius Press (I'm happy to have an autographed copy of the first edition, though the dust jacket has seen better days) - Sister Caroline Hemesath, O.S.F., relates the experience of the night Tolton learned he would not be sent to Africa:

On Good Friday, April 23, 1886, the day before his ordination, Augustine Tolton's faith was put to a test. On that occasion Cardinal Giovanni Simeoni, addressed the assembled deacons. "Each one of you," reminded the cardinal, "has already taken the "Propaganda Oath" which binds you to obedience and fealty; because you are students of the pontifical college you must go wherever you are sent by papal delegation.

Augustine nodded his head approvingly as the speaker continued: "Today you must take another oath, namely, to remain in the country and diocese for which you will be ordained. Permission to go elsewhere may be granted only by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith."

It was certainly understood, and from the very beginning, that Augustine Tolton, the American Negro, was destined to go to Africa. He had gained admittance to the papal college through the efforts of Father Bernardin, superior general of the Franciscan Order, and on the ground that he was willing and eager to serve as a missionary in Africa.

Before the time set for the deacons to sign the final oath, Augustine spoke with Cardinal Parocchi. "I know I am going to Africa, Your Eminence," he said with a happy smile, "but can you tell me to which diocese or province I will be assigned?"

Cardinal Simeoni

"It was our intention all along, Gus," answered the cardinal. "Even in our last meeting most of the members thought that you would not go back to your diocese in America. It seems we have no contact with your American bishop. We are all agreed that since you are the only priest of your race in that country, that you would perhaps not succeed very well. Then just before the meeting closed Cardinal Simeoni had this idea: 'America needs Negro priests. America has been called the most enlightened nation. We will see whether it deserves that honor. If the United States has never seen a Black priest it must see one now.' Then we all felt that Cardinal Simeoni was right. Come now, Gus, and sign the oath that you will spend the rest of your life in the United States of America, in the Illinois diocese."

So it was that at the age of 31, Augustus Tolton was ordained a priest by Cardinal Lucido Parocchi in the Basilica of St. John on the Lateran hill, the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, on April 24, 1886. After celebrating his first Mass in the Basilica of St. Peter the following day at a temporary altar within the sanctuary normally reserved for cardinals he began his long journey home.

Father Gus left the Eternal City that Pentecost and made his way back to Quincy and celebrated his first Mass in the Gem City on July 18, 1886, which was attended by more than 1,500 of the faithful.

But all of this could have been very different indeed.

Writing yesterday in The Boston Pilot, John Garvey makes an excellent observation that, I'm ashamed to say, never quite occurred to me:

It was a courageous assignment to seek. One month after Father Tolton was ordained, Charles Lwanga and his companions would be massacred in Uganda for embracing the Catholic faith. Father Tolton, who clearly took after his mother, was willing to brave such an environment.

But God had other plans: to serve the church in a nation that openly disdained him because of the color of his skin.

Saint Charles Lwanga (numbered 13 here) and Companions

Yes, it could all have been so very different; Father Tolton might easily have been a martyr in Africa, yet the Lord chose to send him to us instead as a model of perseverance and long-suffering, of gentleness and charity, an example so greatly needed today. I, for one, am deeply grateful for the life and witness of Father Gus and think the story of his life needs to be made known more and more.

It was one month ago today that His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago concluded the diocesan phase of the investigation into the life and virtues of Father Tolton and sent the acts of the Cause to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (video here). Now we wait for this Cause to progress through the Congregation to the Holy Father and pray it will do so swiftly.

In the weeks following that moving ceremony, the story of Father Gus has slowly continued to spread, thanks in part to articles published by Catholic News Service, Crux, Breibart, and even Al Jazeera, but his story needs to spread still farther.

With this in mind, I'm excited beyond words to learn that Leonardo Defilippis of St. Luke Productions is working on a live dramatic presentation of the life of Father Gus that he hopes to have ready for performance one year from now.

I've worked before with Leonardo and his production on the life of Saint John Marie Vianney. Leonardo is a man of exceptional talent whose faith and devotion shines through his theatrical work. If you have the opportunity to see one of his shows, do not hesitate to go; you will not be disappointed. Your heart will be touched, your faith will be strengthened, and you will be encouraged. Having seen Leonardo's work before, my anticipation of this drama is already brimming over!

Leonardo wants to help make Father Gus' life more well known, but to do so he needs our help; he needs the help of our prayers and the help of our financial gifts. Says Leonardo:

I need to raise $75,000 to pay for this production. Can you send something right away, so that I can get started? $100 would be terrific - but if you send more, we could sure use it. And, of course, if you can send less, I will be very, very grateful for whatever you can manage.

I made my contribution this morning and I ask you to consider making a contribution, as well. You can make a contribution with a credit card here or you can send a donation to the following address:

Saint Luke Productions
P.O. Box 886
Battle Ground, Washington 98604

Together we can help spread the inspirational story of the life and faith of Father Gus across the nation.

"Behold, your Mother!"

Detail, L'Avvocata, written by St. Luke, house in the Dominican Convent on Monte Mario in Rome

“Mary is Mother, and one cannot conceive any other title of Mary that is not ‘Mother.” She is Mother, because she brings us Jesus and she helps us with the strength of the Holy Spirit, so that Jesus will be born and grow in us. She constantly gives us life. She is Mother of the Church. She is maternity. We do not have the right  -- and if we [think we do] we are mistaken – to have a psychology of orphans. A Christian does not have the right to be an orphan. He has a Mother! We have a Mother.”

- Pope Francis

A thought from King Alfred the Great

He seems to me a very foolish man, and very wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear.

 - King Alfred the Great (d. October 26, 899)

Before you go to Mass today, read this

Given the Gospel of the day, today seems a fitting time to share one of my favorite passages from Benedict XVI's first encyclical letter, Deus caritas est (God is love):

Here we need to consider yet another aspect: this sacramental “mysticism” is social in character, for in sacramental communion I become one with the Lord, like all the other communicants. As Saint Paul says, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:17). Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives himself. I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to him only in union with all those who have become, or who will become, his own. Communion draws me out of myself towards him, and thus also towards unity with all Christians. We become “one body”, completely joined in a single existence. Love of God and love of neighbour are now truly united: God incarnate draws us all to himself. We can thus understand how agape also became a term for the Eucharist: there God's own agape comes to us bodily, in order to continue his work in us and through us. Only by keeping in mind this Christological and sacramental basis can we correctly understand Jesus' teaching on love. The transition which he makes from the Law and the Prophets to the twofold commandment of love of God and of neighbour, and his grounding the whole life of faith on this central precept, is not simply a matter of morality—something that could exist apart from and alongside faith in Christ and its sacramental re-actualization. Faith, worship and ethos are interwoven as a single reality which takes shape in our encounter with God's agape. Here the usual contraposition between worship and ethics simply falls apart. “Worship” itself, Eucharistic communion, includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn. A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented. Conversely, as we shall have to consider in greater detail below, the “commandment” of love is only possible because it is more than a requirement. Love can be “commanded” because it has first been given (14, emphases mine).

Not a bad reflection before heading off to the Holy Mass.

ISIS Updates - October 2014

Given the great length of my original post containing daily updates on the activities of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, I thought it might be good to being a new post of ongoing daily updates here. I expect to do this each month.

31 October 2014

• UPDATE (11-2-2014): Islamic State Announces Beheadings for All Who Insult Allah
• UPDATE (11-2-2014): Nigeria bus station hit by triple bomb blasts, 8 killed
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): Three Iraqis arrested in Switzerland, suspected of planning attack
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): Syria: Christ's followers caught between Assad and the Caliphate
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): Vatican official visits to access humanitarian needs
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): ISIS costumes for Halloween
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces 'cross into Kobane'
• Iraqi Christians Seek Shelter in Jordan After IS Threats
• Aleppo 'at risk' after FSA fighters were sent to Kobane: Commander

30 October 2014

• UPDATE (01-21-15): ISIS's Atrocities Against Women and Religious Minorities: Senate Human Rights Caucus Field Hearing Highlights ISIS's Threat to Chicago and National Security
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): Airstrikes against Islamic State do not seem to have affected flow of fighters to Syria
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): Islamic State 'terror schools': Children as young as five trained to fight and kill
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): ISIS wants to spread Ebola: security chief
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): One in seven young Britons has sympathy with ISIS cause
• Iraq's Christian paramilitaries split in IS fight
• Iraqi Christian refugees in Kurdistan - 'their tears have run dry'
• Salisbury [North Carolina] man pleads guilty to trying to aid [ISIS] terrorist group

29 October 2014

• Islamic State fights Syrian army for gas field, kills 30 - Monitor

28 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-29-2014): Tribal leader: ISIS calls elite of Syria to Mosul after losing control of the city
• UPDATE (10-29-2014): Most Arab states share ISIS' ideology. They're trying to have it both ways
• Peshmerga fighters head to Turkey
• Letter from Archbishop of Mosul: Thank you for your aid, supporting the plight of refugees
• U.S. urges Arab banks to choke ISIS funding
• Syrian Christians, building cemeteries instead of schools
• Australian teenager appears in new ISIS video
• Nusra front rebels attack Idlib

27 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-28-2014): Pentagon: ISIS campaign costing $8.3M per day
• UPDATE (10-28-2014): ISIL jihadists seen with new advanced anti-aircraft missile
• UPDATE (10-28-2014): Car bombings in Iraq kill at least 38 people
• UPDATE (10-28-2014): John Cantlie: Islamic State hostage in 'Kobane' video

24 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-26-2014): Lebanon tells Syrian refugees 'to return' or go elsewhere
• UPDATE (10-26-2014): ISIS finds success in luring Canadians
• UPDATE (10-26-2014): Ex-CIA Case Officer: 'The West is Under Attack from Islamic State-Inspired Radicals'
• UPDATE (10-26-2014): US to investigate claims IS used 'chemical weapons' in Iraq
• UPDATE (10-25-2014): As ISIS approached, a seminarian took the Blessed Sacrament from the church and fled
• UPDATE (10-25-2014): Afghan newspaper's 'blasphemy' causes protests after rebuking ISIS and Islam
• FSA sends forces to help Kurdish fighters in Kobane
• Diary of Life in Mosul
• Yazidis Say They Are Trapped in New ISIS Siege on Iraqi Mountain

23 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-31-2014): Petition for Persecuted Christians in Iraq is Presented at United Nations
• UPDATE (10-25-2014): ISIS Militants Capture Village in Iraq's Anbar from Sunni Tribe
• UPDATE (10-25-2014): FBI warns media: Journalists 'desirable targets' for ISIL
• UPDATE (10-24-2014): Canada Attacks Follow Al-Qaida, IS Instructions to a Tee
  
• UPDATE (10-24-2014): Islamic State Militants Seize Iraq Village, Press Assault on Yazidis
• UPDATE (10-24-2014): Chaldean patriarch suspends 12 monks, priests
• 'Don't abandon us' - Church in Mosul no longer exists
• Islamic State Sympathizers Cheer Canada Shooting

22 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-31-2014): ISIS Sex Slaves: Yazidi Woman Begs West to Bomb Brothel Where She Is Raped Over 30 Times A Day
• UPDATE (10-24-2014): Amid insurgency, Iraqi priest is guardian angel of ancient manuscripts
• Syria Says Shoots down Two of Three 'IS Warplanes'
• Pentagon confirms Islamic State captured bundle of supplies meant for Kurds
• Iran Proposes Axis against ISIL to Iraqi PM Abadi as alternative to US coalition
• US probes 'stray Syria air drop' in IS video

21 October 2014

• UPDATE (12-07-2014): Egyptian Human Rights Activist Ahmad Harqan: ISIS Is Doing what the Prophet Muhammad Did
• UPDATE (11-1-2014): Michele Bachmann given security detail over ISIL threat
• UPDATE (10-22-2014): New Freedoms in Tunisia Drive Support for ISIS
• UPDATE (10-22-2014): Slick, agile, and modern - the IS media machine
• UPDATE (10-22-2014): David Petraeus: 'People Saw ISIS Coming'
• UPDATE (10-22-2014): ISIS releases video clip showing Syrian woman stoned to death by group of men, including her father
• UPDATE (10-22-2014): Teen girls from Denver arrested in Germany were trying to join ISIS, U.S. officials say
• Fresh fighting in key Syrian town of Kobane

20 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-22-2014): ISIS Takes Over Two Towns on Mount Sinjar, Yazidis Please for US Coalition to Save Them
• UPDATE (10-22-2014): Archbishop Laham: 4 thousand displaced Iraqi Christians all want to emigrate to the West
• UPDATE (10-21-2014): 200,000 activists tell Europe: Stand up for persecuted Christians
• Chaldean Abp: a Mideast without Christians?
• Turkey to let Iraq Kurds join Kobane fight
• Israeli aid to Iraq helps Christians persecuted by Islamic State
• Kobane: US drops arms and aid to Kurds battling IS

19 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-23-2014): Syria tribal revolt against Islamic State ignored, fueling resentment
• UPDATE (10-22-2014): Victims of ISIS: Non-western journalists who don't make the headlines
• UPDATE (10-20-2014): U.S. Humanitarian Aid Going to ISIS
• UPDATE (10-20-2014): Islamic State foiled in attempt to kidnap Syrian rebel leader in Turkey
• UPDATE (10-20-2014): An examination of how some define the word 'jihad'

18 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-20-2014): Lebanon pulled into war with Islamic State group
• Slavery in Islam: To have and to hold: Jihadists boast of selling captive women as concubines

17 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-21-2014): Priests race to save manuscripts from jihadists in Iraq
• UPDATE (10-20-2014): ISIS fighters 'crucify' 17-year-old boy in Syria
• UPDATE (10-19-2014): Former Iraqi pilots train Islamic State fighters to fly MiG jets
• UPDATE (10-19-2014): British police officers targeted by alleged ISIL terrorists
• ISIS Militants in Syrian Border Town Begin To Retreat After a Monthlong Battle

16 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-18-2014): NC Man Pleads Guilty In Terrorism Case
• UPDATE (10-18-2014): ISIS targets Baghdad with wave of car bombs and mortar attacks killing 150
• UPDATE (10-18-2014): A church in Qaraqosh bombed by the anti-Caliphate coalition
• UPDATE (10-17-2014): Islamic State desecrates Christian monastery
• UPDATE (10-17-2014): We Won't Be Your Trojan Horse: Sunni Muslim Militias Decide They Won't Fight With IS - or The US Alliance
• UPDATE (10-17-2014): Life In Mosul Under Extremists: Iraqis Cooking With Clay Ovens And Home-Made Heaters
• UPDATE (10-17-2014): Iraq Is Cutting Off Electricity From Regions Held By ISIS
• UPDATE (10-17-2014): 'We will chop off the heads … of whoever you may bring': ISIS terrorists from Europe spew hate in video
• Baron von Boeselager: 'It's a tragedy that thousands of years of Christian culture are being destroyed'
• Islamic State 'being driven out of Syria's Kobane'

15 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-16-2014): Trinidad says 'several' citizens aid Islamic group
• UPDATE (10-16-2014): At War Against ISIS, Iraqi Premier Is Facing Battles Closer to Home
• Has ISIS looted chemical weapons from former Iraqi nerve agent factory that US failed to destroy? UN told 2,500 rockets containing deadly Sarin are in the hands of the jihadist
• The rise of IS in North Africa
• US intensifies airstrikes in Kobane
• The Battle for Baghdad has begun 

14 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-16-2014): Istanbul Rattled By Signs of Islamic State Support
• UPDATE (10-15-2014): The Secret Casualties of Iraq's Abandoned Chemical Weapons
• UPDATE (10-15-2014): National Union of Students refuses to condemn ISIS terrorists because it's 'Islamophobic'
• UPDATE (10-15-2014): Six arrested by counter-terror police: Three men and three women from Portsmouth, Farnborough and Greenwich arrested on terror charges in relation to conflict in Syria
• UPDATE (10-15-2014): Six top TTP commanders announce allegiance to Islamic State's Baghdadi
• UPDATE (10-15-2014): In Kurdish Iraq, Christian refugees are preparing for winter
• UPDATE (10-15-2014): Feds warn of possible ISIS-inspired attacks on police, government officials, media
• UPDATE (10-15-2014): Islamic State militants kill two Iraq journalists
• UPDATE (10-15-2014): White House insists anti-Islamic State strategy is on track, despite setbacks on the ground
• Mideast crisis widens as Turkey bombs Kurdish militants
• Turkish jets bombard Kurdish positions: First air strikes since start of peace talks comes as Kurdish anger grows over perceived government inaction against ISIS
• Latest ISIS offensive displaces thousands of civilians in Iraq
• Islamic State crisis: Kurds 'recapture key Kobane hill'
• Vatican to UN: Middle East minorities need our protection
• Chilling Report Reveals Weapons the Islamic State May Have That is a 'Matter of the Gravest Concern'

13 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-15-2014): Bishop Thomas Paprocki: Confronting the Genocide of Christians in the Middle East
• UPDATE (10-14-2014): Chechens lead way in ISIL war for dominance
• UPDATE (10-14-2014): Patriarch Younan: help Iraq/Syria's Christian, stop violent rhetoric
• UPDATE (10-14-2014): Thousands of Yazidi women sold as sex slaves 'for theological reasons,' says ISIL
• UPDATE (10-14-2014): ISIS seizes military base near Baghdad as bombings in Iraqi capital kill at least 30
  
• UPDATE (10-14-2014): Germany has a serious ISIS problem
• 180,000 flee IS advance in Anbar, UN says
• Iraqi city falls to ISIL as army withdraws: ISIL '100 percent control' Hit in Anbar, says police colonel, after troops are relocated to reinforce nearby airbase
• Turkey 'allows Syria rebel training'
• ISIS magazine shows flag flying in Vatican: Militants' press calls for war against Rome, Catholic Church
• ISIS Magazine Dabiq Threatens 'Rome Crusaders' Flying Islamic State Flag at Vatican on Front Cover
• Turkey 'to let US use bases' against Islamic State

12 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-13-2014): ISIS states its justification for the enslavement of women
• UPDATE (10-13-2014): Battle for Kobane: Turkey pressed to let weapons through to Kurdish fighters
• Terror experts fear 'World War Three' if Kobane falls to Islamic State
• War against ISIS: US strategy in tatters as militants march on

11 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-12-2014): Americans abroad at 'high risk' of ISIS kidnappings, terrorist attacks, U.S. warns
• UPDATE (10-12-2014): Archbishop of Mosul: Christian families 'desperate', solidarity of synod important
  
• UPDATE (10-12-2014): Turkey Arrests 274 Kobane Refugees Fleeing from Islamic State
• UPDATE (10-12-2014): Kobani: time running out for hundreds of besieged civilians
• UPDATE (10-12-2014): Syria: Kobane siege death toll 'passes 500'
  
• UPDATE (10-12-2014): Germany Probes Over 200 Accused of Backing Terrorism: Report
• Kobane: Islamic State battles to encircle Syrian Kurds
• Iraq appeals for help in Anbar against Islamic State

10 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-20-2014): An Overview of Chinese Fighters and Anti-Chinese Militant Groups in Syria and Iraq
• UPDATE (10-17-2014): Silence about Islamic Persecution in the West
• UPDATE (10-13-2014): Syria: Father Hanna to be tried by Islamic court
• UPDATE (10-12-2014): Security services monitoring 'thousands' of terrorism suspects in London, says Boris Johnson
• UPDATE (10-11-2014): ISIS threatens to kill Twitter employees for suspending terrorists' accounts - CEO
• UPDATE (10-11-2014): Moderate Muslims and Cafeteria Catholics: The notion that Islam is a religion of peace is becoming less credible by the day
• UPDATE (10-11-2014): The Islamic State's First Colony in Libya
• UPDATE (10-11-2014): The Islamic State's Oil Network
• ISIS within 8 miles of Baghdad armed with MANPADs
• Thousands 'will most likely be massacred,' U.N. warns, as fighters push into Kobani
• Up to 700 trapped in Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane, UN says

9 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-15-2014): The Islamic State's Anbar Offensive and Abu Umar al-Shishani
• UPDATE (10-11-2014): Islamic State Grooms Chechen Fighters Against Putin
• UPDATE (10-11-2014): Does Obama Need 'Time' to Defeat or Forget ISIS?
• UPDATE (10-10-2014): Syria's Christians and the 'New Order' declared by the jihadists
• UPDATE (10-10-2014): 'Our youngest martyr yet' - ISIL boasts about death of 10-year-old
• For the Middle East, war is the main 'family issue'
• Four women abducted along with Father Hanna have been released
• Patriarch Laham Responds to Kidnapping of Franciscan Friar in Syria
• Arab bishops back use of 'proportionate force' to protect minorities
• Biden says it's a priority to assist Iraq's persecuted Christians
• Six miles from ISIS: A shockingly brave priest returns to Iraq
• Turkey action in Syria 'unrealistic'
• Kobane: US and UK warn of air strike limitations

8 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-13-2014): Jimmy Carter criticizes President Obama's ISIS strategy
• UPDATE (10-9-2014): JW Confirms: 4 ISIS Terrorists Arrested in Texas in Last 36 Hours
• UPDATE (10-9-2014): DOD won't recommend U.S. ground troops to save Kobani, warns other towns may fall
• UPDATE (10-9-2014): 11 Rules For Journalists Covering ISIS, Issued by ISIS
• UPDATE (10-9-2014): Extremists in Mosul sell off confiscated [stolen] real estate
• UPDATE (10-9-2014): The Franciscan priest kidnapped after he had appealed to the Islamic Court
• UPDATE (10-9-2014): Nuncio: international community has duty to stop Islamic State
• UPDATE (10-9-2014): Chaldean patriarch calls on Muslims to denounce violence against Christians
• Kobane: IS and Syria Kurds in fierce gun battles
• Western fear of angering Turkey leaves besieged Kurdish town at mercy of Islamic State
• Canada's parliament approves anti-Islamic State air strikes

7 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-9-2014): 'Too late' for Syrian border town as air strikes fail: analysts 
• UPDATE (10-9-2014): FBI investigating Islamic State graffiti around D.C.: report
• UPDATE (10-8-2014): In Babylon, Iraqis shield ancient symbols of identity from Islamic State
• UPDATE (10-8-2014): Turkey says Syria town about to fall as Islamic State advances
• UPDATE (10-8-2014): UN concerned over safety of civilians as ISIL intensifies offensive in Syrian border town
• UPDATE (10-8-2014): Strategic Syrian Border Town 'Is About to Fall' to Islamic State Militants
• UPDATE (10-8-2014): The Fight for Kobane: The Turkish government vowed to prevent the town from falling into the hands of the Islamic State but has yet to take any decisive action
• Chaldean Bishop Blasts Iraqi Government, Muslim Leaders: 'Our People Have Been Abandoned'
• Why did the US help the Kurds in Iraq but leave ISIS to massacre them in Syria?
• Parish priest, 20 Christians kidnapped in Syria
• Praying the Rosary is our secret weapon against ISIS
• Anglican Bishop: 'Most Look to Rome to Stem Tide of Islamic Militancy'

6 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-7-2014): Slaughter Is Feared as ISIS Nears Turkish Border
• UPDATE (10-7-2014): Iraq: Bishop says, 'Our people have been abandoned'
• UPDATE (10-7-2014): Iraq's battles need sense of resolve
• UPDATE (10-7-2014): Islamic State Draws Closer to Baghdad: Apostolic Nuncios Appeal for More Action, in Accordance With International Law, to Stop Unjust Aggressor
• UPDATE (10-7-2014): On Christians and the Open Letter to the Islamic State
• Kobane: Civilians flee IS street-to-street fighting
• Christians in the Middle East: the Church cannot remain silent before the persecution of her children
• Alan Henning murder: Aid worker's brother calls for 'troops on the ground'
• Trojan horse: ISIS militants come to Europe disguised as refugees, US intel sources claim

5 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-6-2014): ISIS' Ammunition Is Shown to Have Origins in U.S. and China
• UPDATE (10-6-2014): Islamic State Militants Publicly Execute Six Iraqi Soldiers, Continue Advance Amid U.S.-Led Airstrikes
• UPDATE (10-6-2014): Jihadists from UK stuck in Turkey after deserting ISIS
• UPDATE (10-6-2014): Islamic State withstands bombing campaign, plots Baghdad invasion: Airstrikes slow terrorists' advances, but coalition forces unable to retake territory

4 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-7-2014): What the Pope can do for Middle East Christians
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): Video: Islamic State group beheads British hostage
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): White House Confirms ISIS Is Holding A Former US Army Ranger Hostage
• UPDATE (10-5-201): Pakistani Taliban declares allegiance to Islamic State and global jihad
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): 'I believe in hopeless causes': American ISIS captive Peter Kassig described how he felt a calling to help wounded Syrian refugees - just one year before he was captured by Islamic militants and became a Muslimhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2780511/ISIS-captive-Peter-Kassig-calls-hopeless-romantic-idealist-revealing-hopes-dreams-2012-profile.html
• UPDATE  (10-5-2014): Apostolic nuncios calls for end to war in Middle East

3 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-9-2014): Statement of the Conference of Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions (CELRA)
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): Islamic State is committing 'staggering' crimes in Iraq - U.N. report
  
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): 'If you want to kill us for our faith then we are prepared to die here and now'
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): Report: ISIS Puts Literal Price Tags on Abducted Girls
  
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): Persecution of Christians Highlights What Unites Us, Pope Tells Assyrian Patriarch
  
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): Antiquities Lost, Casualties of War: In Iraq and Syria, Trying to Protect a Heritage at Risk
  
• UPDATE (10-4-2014): Butler student threatened in latest ISIS beheading video
• Muslim Scholars vs. ISIS: Is the Open Letter to the Islamic State Really Enough?

2 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-15-2014): Northern Iraq: 2,000 Years of Christianity Wiped Out By ISIS
• UPDATE (10-7-2014): Pro-ISIS graffiti in a girl school in Saudi capital stirs controversy
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): Meeting of Apostolic Nuncios from Middle East Underway at Vatican

1 October 2014

• UPDATE (10-5-2014): Islamic State Beheads Seven Men, Three Women in Syria: Human Rights Group
• UPDATE (10-5-2014): ISIS Takes a Kurdish Village in Syria as Car Bomb Kills Dozens in Homs