Adoption Options

The Associated Press reported in January that the number of Americans deciding to adopt children from overseas is soaring — “even amid high costs, mountains of paperwork and tightening by some countries, notably China, of requirements for eligible parents.” In 2006, the U.S. Department of State issued 20,679 visas for orphans being adopted from other countries. This is up from just under 7,100 in 1990, and it’s not far below the number of babies both born and adopted in the United States (22,291) in 2002. (That’s the most current data available on domestic adoptions, according to the National Council for Adoption.)

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis