The Guardian: Pope Francis reveals new church law to deal with paedophile priests

Catholic bishops who fail to sack paedophile priests can be removed from office under new church laws announced by Pope Francis.

The move, announced by the pope on Saturday, answers a long-running demand by victims of abuse to make bishops responsible if they fail to stop clergy sexually abusing parishioners. [...]

During his visit to the US last September, the pontiff met victims of Catholic church sex abuse and vowed that those responsible would face justice. It was the first time Francis had met abuse victims outside of Rome, where he had done so once before. The pope had already apologised for the church’s inadequate response to the US abuse crisis.

The scandal has severely tarnished the church’s reputation and cost $3bn (£2bn) in settlements in the US.

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AP: Ex-Polish presidents lead anti-government march in Warsaw

Poland's two former presidents led tens of thousands of marchers Saturday in Warsaw to protest the right-wing government's policies and mark 27 years since the ouster of communism.

The march was yet another in a series organized by a new civic movement, the Committee for the Defense of Democracy, or KOD, against the conservative government that took office in November. The government's policies have strained Poland's relations with the European Union and the U.S. and angered many in Poland. But the ruling party insists it has a mandate from Poland's voters. [...]

Warsaw authorities said 50,000 people took part. Smaller marches also took place in other Polish cities and in Berlin and Brussels, the E.U. headquarters.

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The Huffington Post: Christians Turn Love into a Four-Letter Word

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece called Jesus: the First Transgender Man. It was a satirical look at how fundamentalist Christians point to the creation of Adam and Eve as definitions of what being male and female means, when arguing against the rights of transgender individuals. The backlash to the post was huge. Numerous conservative and Christian news outlets wrote about it, YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of followers lambasted it, and radio talk show hosts discussed it on air. The satire was missed by many, and the outpouring of vitriol was staggering. [...]

What I didn’t expect was the degree and volume of absolute hatred that was projectile vomited all over the internet. Vomited by Christians; self-proclaimed followers of He who is love. [...]

Wake up, moderate Christians! Wake up and realize that not all who claim to walk in The Way are gentle. Or kind. Or moderate. Next time you are in conversation with a gay or trans person, don’t just proclaim that you are confronting them with the truth of their sin as you understand it. First remember the ugliness which I captured from numerous people in numerous places around the internet. The screenshots above are just a handful of examples. Remember that this is a tiny reflection of a very large world. Then start your conversation by apologizing for the ugliness, violence, and hate that gay and trans people really do receive from the Christian community.

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Public Radio International: They said, 'You can't win.' He did, and he's now part of a new wave of indie politicians in Mexico.

Mexico has mid-term elections this Sunday, and a political shift is testing the country’s long, entrenched party system: A crop of independent candidates determined to shake things up and win by tapping public frustration with politics as usual. [...]

But there’s worry here about independent candidates, too. “We have no certainty as to whether an independent candidate is going to be better than a party candidate or not,” says Rios, who is quick to call Kumamoto “fresh and refreshing.” But, she offers an overall warning about independent candidates who, she says, can be “more dangerous than party candidates.”

She adds: “Because with parties you have some form of transparency, accountability. At least the party is there after the person is left, so there is some form of punishment that the electorate can give them. However, an independent person is just himself, after he’s done, he’s done. Many authoritarian regimes in Latin American have emerged from supposedly independent candidates.”

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Salon: Afghans still suffer from U.S. war: Violence, displacement, hunger on rise while Europe deports refugees

The number of Afghans “who have fled violence and remained trapped in their own country, where they live on the brink of survival,” has doubled in just over three years, Amnesty International says.

Today, an overwhelming 1.2 million Afghans are displaced inside their country. This is a rise by roughly 240 percent since 2013, when some 500,000 people were internally displaced in Afghanistan.

This does not even consider the estimated 2.6 million Afghan refugees who live outside of their country’s borders. Afghans make up one of the world’s largest refugee populations. [...]

Now, the Taliban is as strong as it was when the U.S. invaded in 2001. The U.N. reported in September that the extremist group had spread through more of Afghanistan than at any point since the beginning of the U.S. war.

Afghan refugees fleeing this extreme violence and seeking asylum in the West have faced intense discrimination, and even deportation.

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