News/International

The coffin of Gisela Mota, former mayor of Temixco, Mexico, is carried out of her home Jan. 3. Mota was killed Jan. 2, one day after taking oath of office.

Bishop says Mexican mayor's murder was message from organized crime

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MEXICO CITY - The assassination of a Mexican mayor the day after she assumed office was a message from organized crime and evidence of its influence in the area around the city of Cuernavaca, said the bishop who celebrated her funeral Mass.

Evacuees from besieged towns in Syria rest at Ebla Hotel in Damascus Dec. 30.

Syriac church leaders angered by Islamic State attack in Qamishli

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BEIRUT - Syriac church leaders denounced the year-end terrorist attack that targeted Christian-owned restaurants in Qamishli, Syria.

Local volunteers and the British Army fill sandbags Dec. 28 to stem floodwater in York, England. Pope Francis called on Christians to pray for victims of several natural disasters that have hit parts of the United States, Great Britain and Paraguay.

Some priests organize rescues, others trapped in northern England floods

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MANCHESTER, England - A 78-year-old Catholic priest trapped in his home was among those rescued as floods ravaged the north of England.

An Iranian girl raises a sheet of paper with 'Please HELP Me' on it Nov. 24 as a group of people wait for permission to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia. Macedonia began granting entry only to refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

2015: the year of the refugee

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The easy way to look back on 2015, or any year of news, is to list off all the bombings, shootings, riots, droughts, hurricanes, floods and famines. We can always find a parade of disaster.

Galit Oren, Tali Khanin, and Zohar Kaplan wear special glasses that make the lights multiply on the Christmas tree in the lobby of the YMCA in West Jerusalem Christmas Eve. They were part of a group of secular rabbinical students who had come to experience Christmas in Jerusalem.

In Israeli cities, Jews show an increase in interest in Christmas

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JERUSALEM - On Christmas Eve, the entrance to the West Jerusalem YMCA was decked out in colorful lights against the night sky, and a Christmas tree sparkling with ornaments stood in the lobby. Jewish Israelis and international visitors, guests at the YMCA's popular restaurant, stopped to take pictures in front of the tree.

Pope Francis smiles as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Dec. 16. The pope won the German 2016 Charlemagne Prize for European unification

Pope Francis to receive Germany's Charlemagne Prize

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis was selected to be the 2016 recipient of Germany's Charlemagne Prize for his commitment in promoting European unity.

A Kenyan bus arrives to pick up passengers in this picture dated 2009. Christian leaders have hailed as an act of bravery and selflessness the shielding of some Christians by Muslims after suspected al-Shabab gunmen in Mandera County ambushed a passenger bus.

Muslims shield Christian passengers in militant attack on Kenyan bus

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NAIROBI, Kenya - Christian leaders have hailed as an act of bravery and selflessness the shielding of some Christians by Muslims after suspected al-Shabab gunmen in Mandera County ambushed a passenger bus.

Young internally displaced Iraqis try to dig a drainage trench after heavy rains in early November at a camp in Baghdad.

Mideast Catholic patriarchs encourage hope, joy amid suffering

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BEIRUT - Catholic patriarchs from the Middle East encouraged their trouble people to find inner peace at Christmas and urged the world to remember them.

A man cleans the sidewalk Dec. 17 in Morelia, Mexico, in preparation for Christmas. Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Morelia, as well as other Mexican cities, during his Feb. 12-17 visit.

Mexico's Michoacan: Where priests tell people it's OK to fight back

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COALCOMAN, Mexico - Fr. Emiliano Mendoza Magana, pastor of the St. James the Apostle parish in this town of timber cutters, recalls parishioners coming to confessions in past years with questions about grabbing guns and fighting back against a marauding drug cartel.

Jasan Zided of Hebron, West Bank, waits to sell Santa hats to tourists in an empty Manger Square Dec. 15 in Bethlehem, West Bank.

Few pilgrims, no sales: Mideast situation dampens Bethlehem Christmas

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BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Though the Christmas tree was lit in Nativity Square in the traditional ceremony, and some traditional pre-Christmas parades have taken place, the Christmas spirit this year in Bethlehem has been dampened by the political situation which, since October, has taken the lives of almost 100 Palestinians and 22 Israelis.

Nora Morales de Cortinas, a founder of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, joins a Dec. 10 protest in Buenos Aires. Within hours of President Mauricio Macri being sworn in as Argentina's new president, she and other Mothers took to the Plaza to reiterate their demands.

In politically polarized Argentina, some view new president with worry

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - In a sprawling working class parish founded by Jesuit Father Jorge Bergoglio long before he became archbishop of Buenos Aires and later Pope Francis, the faithful are lamenting the results of Argentina's November elections in which businessman Mauricio Macri was elected president.

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