U.S.: Court rejects atheists’ appeal over ‘In God We Trust’ on currency

A federal appeals court on Tuesday said printing “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency is constitutional, citing its longstanding use and saying it was not coercive. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St Paul, Minnesota rejected claims by 29 atheists, children of atheists and atheist groups that inscribing the national motto on […]

Vietnam: Two Vietnamese-Americans jailed for bomb attacks

A Vietnamese court found two Vietnamese-Americans guilty of terrorism on Wednesday and sentenced them to 14 years in prison for masterminding a series of bomb plots earlier this year, a court official told Reuters. James Nguyen and Angel Phan were convicted, along with 10 accomplices who received short jail terms, after a two day trial. […]

Bereaved Charlottesville mother keeps daughter’s cause alive

Every few weeks, Susan Bro walks down 4th Street in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, until she gets to a brick wall covered in chalked messages like “Love over hate” and “Gone but not forgotten.” “I come just to absorb the energy of the place,” Bro, 61, said on Tuesday as she stood on the block now […]

Why do people want Titanic priest Father Thomas Byles sainted?

A campaign to canonise a Catholic priest who stayed on the RMS Titanic instead of fleeing remains ongoing despite renewed interest in his story. The story of Father Thomas Byles and his acts of selflessness, however, deserves re-telling. Roussel Davids Byles was born in 1870 to a Protestant family in Leeds. His father, Reverend Dr. Alfred Holden Byles and mother Louisa Davids also had six other children. He excelled at mathematics and  gained a scholarship to Balliol School, Oxford. When at Oxford, Byles gravitated towards the Church of England. His younger brother, William, however, converted to Catholicism first. In 1894, he had a conditional baptism (sub conditione) at St. Aloysius Church in Oxford. Upon entering the Catholic faith, Roussel adopted the name of Thomas. After spending two years in Rome, Byles became the ordained priest of St Helen’s Church, Chipping Ongar, Essex in 1904. In 1912, he had boarded the ship to attend the wedding of his younger brother William, in New York. This last minute decision to board the Titanic instead of a different ship cost him £13 (roughly £1,100 today). His second class ticket was number 244310. His duties included performing mass for second and third class passengers. [...]

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