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Anglican and Eastern Orthodox church leaders continue their efforts to mend long-standing differences. “For more than 1,500 years, a theological row has festered to become one of the biggest and bitterest schisms in Christian history. While the two wings of the faith may never be fully reconciled… the boil was lanced this week. The ink is drying on a document that brings together the Anglican Communion and its counterparts in the Middle East in an agreement on the nature of Christ.

In October, leaders of the Catholic Church held a two-week synod to discuss homosexuality, divorce, remarriage, and homosexual couples (Reuters, October 19, 2014). The goal of the synod was to enable the Roman church to develop more definitive doctrinal revisions on these family-related issues. During the synod, which was filled with heated debate, the pope commented “God is not afraid of new things.

Ironically, as same-sex marriage is legalized, homosexual couples are increasingly uncertain about getting married (Associated Press, October 24, 2014). “When gay marriage became legal in Pennsylvania earlier this year, Elissa Goldberg was ready to say ‘I do.’ Her longtime partner’s reaction, however, was ‘I’m not so sure’” (ibid.). Homosexual couples are questioning whether they should legally wed, even though most states now allow same-sex marriage (30 states so far) (ibid.).

In a recent speech at Rhode Island College, President Obama discussed the need for more mothers to have access to “quality day care” so they can enter and remain in the workplace. He stated “sometimes, someone, usually mom, leaves the workplace to stay home with the kids, which then leaves her earning a lower wage for the rest of her life as a result. And that’s not a choice we want Americans to make” (WhiteHouse.gov, October 31, 2014). His solution?

“Unnamed sources in the German government told the German weekly Der Spiegel that UK plans to place a cap on unskilled EU migrants would be a step too far for the German Chancellor… ‘Should Cameron persist [in this plan], chancellor Angela Merkel would abandon her efforts to keep Britain in the EU. With that a point of no return would be reached’” (EU Observer, November 3, 2014).