News/International

Pairs of shoes are symbolically placed on the Place de la Republique in Paris Nov. 29, ahead of the U.N. climate change conference, known as the COP21 summit, in Paris.

On eve of U.N. climate summit, Catholics join in calls for change

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PARIS - Hundreds of thousands of people in at least 150 countries around the world demanded action on climate change on the eve of a U.N. conference that aimed to find agreement on greenhouse gas emissions.

West end of Glastonbury Abbey

Archaeologists: Monks made up legends about King Arthur’s burial site

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CANTERBURY, England - Twelfth-century Roman Catholic monks with their eyes fixed on the equivalent of medieval cash registers were responsible for spreading the story that King Arthur and his golden-haired wife, Guinevere, were buried at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset, one of England’s best known and most loved pilgrimage sites.

Maureen Orth poses for a photo at National Geographic's building in Washington Nov. 24. Orth visited several countries and interviewed dozens of people with strong devotional ties to Mary -- from those who claim to have seen her to those who believe Mary's intercession has healed them and those who simply seek her spiritual guidance.

National Geographic magazine's cover story reveals Mary's appeal

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WASHINGTON - Maureen Orth, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine who has written about music icons, world leaders and Hollywood celebrities, tackled a completely different subject for National Geographic magazine: the Virgin Mary.

A journalist takes a photo on a tablet as Pope Francis speaks to journalists aboard his flight from Rome to Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 25. The pope is visiting Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic during his six-day African tour.

Arriving in Kenya, Pope says tolerance, respect are keys to peace

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NAIROBI, Kenya - With security concerns looming over his visit, Pope Francis arrived in Kenya Nov. 25 urging tolerance and respect among people of different religions and different ethnic groups.

Security forces surround the Radisson Hotel during a hostage situation in Bamako, Mali, Nov. 20. The secretary-general of Mali's Catholic bishops' conference has said he fears the bloody hotel attack forms part of a wider Islamist campaign, but insisted Catholic-Muslim ties will not be affected by the latest violence

Mali's Catholic leaders think attack won't hurt relations with Muslims

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OXFORD, England - The secretary-general of Mali's Catholic bishops' conference said he fears the Nov. 20 hotel attack in Bamako forms part of a wider Islamist campaign, but insisted Catholic-Muslim ties will not be affected by the latest violence.

Vatican's nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, centre, visits a hospitalized victim of the Nov. 12 twin suicide bombings in Beirut. Fr. Wissam Maalouf, founder and superior of Mission of Life, is at right.

Lebanon's nuncio visits Muslim bomb victims, stresses nation's diversity

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BEIRUT - Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Vatican nuncio to Lebanon, visited hospitalized victims of twin suicide bombings in Beirut and said Lebanon's "message of co-existence" needs to be preserved, despite the crises the country is enduring.

A French peacekeeping soldier patrols the streets of Bangui, Central African Republic, in 2013.

Pope Francis’ Africa trip will focus on youth, but security concerns abound

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis embarks Wednesday on his first trip to Africa, visiting three countries in a papal tour overshadowed by security concerns.

Pope Francis calendars are displayed for sale in a bookstore in Nairobi, Kenya. Fr. Stan Chu Ilo says the Pope specifically chose to visit Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic for their strong faith traditions and their exponential growth in membership.

Pope must preach truth to power in Africa

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Over six days beginning Nov. 25, Pope Francis will visit three African countries — Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic. His first visit to Africa is significant in many ways.

Patients wait for their turn to be treated at St. Anthony’s medical dispensary in Beirut. The clinic, run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, functions as a primary health care center, serving Iraqi and Syrian refugees, as well as Lebanon's poor.

Refugees in Lebanon, facing new reality, get help at Catholic-run clinic

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BEIRUT - The three Iraqi retirees met up at St. Anthony's medical dispensary to get medication for hypertension, an ailment exacerbated by the stress of life as a refugee.

The Eiffel Tower is seen at sunset in Paris Nov. 22. Catholic organizations said the terror attacks in Paris had not dissuaded them from attending the UN climate change conference Nov. 30-Dec. 11.

Catholic groups, undeterred by Paris attacks, will attend climate summit

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WASHINGTON - Catholic organizations advocating to protect the world and its people from the impact of climate change said the terror attacks in Paris will not dissuade them from attending the UN summit on climate change to be held there Nov. 30-Dec. 11.

A boy touches his crying father during a Nov. 19 protest by angry migrants from Pakistan and Morocco who blocked a section of the Greece-Macedonia border after Macedonia began granting entry only to refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Syriac patriarch says Western nations have betrayed Mideast Christians

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BEIRUT - The head of the Syriac Catholic Church has accused Western governments of betraying Christians in the Middle East and said it was "a big lie" to suggest Islamic State could be defeated with airstrikes.

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