News/International

QUITO, Ecuador – Catholic agencies are beginning to build temporary shelters for thousands of families in Ecuador made homeless by the South American country's worst natural disaster in nearly seven decades.

South African bishop warns politicians against war rhetoric

By

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – War rhetoric from South African political leaders could incite election violence and civil war, a South African bishop warned.

Dive into world's problems with courage, Pope says at Earth Day event

By

VATICAN CITY – Dive into the world's problems with courage and help people turn their lives of desolation into abundance and hope, Pope Francis said.

Rome’s Jewish catacombs set to open to the public

By

ROME – Beneath a former vineyard near the legendary Appian Way lies one of the Italian capital’s untold secrets, a vast underground catacomb where Jews buried their dead nearly 2,000 years ago.

Inquiry into Dorothy Day's life next step in sainthood cause

By

NEW YORK – A canonical inquiry into the life of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, will begin soon and extend to the end of the year, according to the Archdiocese of New York, which is sponsoring her sainthood cause and is where Day oversaw Catholic Worker houses.

Dominican nuns keep hope alive among displaced in northern Iraq

By

IRBIL, Iraq – When the Islamic State group rolled across Iraq's Ninevah Plain in 2014, tens of thousands of Christians fled for their lives to Kurdish-controlled areas of the country. They still wait in limbo in crowded camps, facing an undefined future. The only certainty they enjoy is knowing that whatever happens to them, a group of Dominican nuns will be at their side.

Brothers, sisters, fathers: Religious orders key to child protection

By

VATICAN CITY – In a continuing effort to protect children, the Catholic Church's focus is now turning to religious orders of men and women.

Church-run restaurant in El Paso takes parish dining to new level

By

EL PASO, Texas – Move aside pancake breakfast. La Tilma Mexican Grill has brought parish dining to a new level.

Jesuit education plan puts ‘Mercy in Motion’

By

The Jesuit Refugee Service has a very specific answer to Pope Francis’ call to put mercy on the leading edge of a Church reaching out to the peripheries. The answer is education.

Catholic official says Zambians shocked by xenophobic violence

By

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Zambians are shocked and ashamed of the xenophobic violence in the capital, Lusaka, in which mostly Rwandans' homes and shops were ransacked, a Church official said.

Head of Knights urges action by U.S. after Kerry's genocide declaration

By

WASHINGTON – If Christians and other religious minorities disappear in Iraq and Syria, "pluralism and stability leave with them," the head of the Knights of Columbus told a U.S. congressional commission April 19.