Catholic News Service
Authorities in northern China arrest bishop, priests
HONG KONG -- Authorities in northern China have arrested a Vatican-appointed Catholic bishop, his seven priests and 10 seminarians in what is seen as part of a renewed crackdown on the underground Catholic Church in the communist country.
MUMBAI, India -- The High Court in Mumbai ordered prison authorities to take an ailing 84-year-old Jesuit to the hospital, as it heard his appeal to receive bail on medical grounds, Indian media reported.
FRANKFURT, Germany (CNS) -- Germany's Third Ecumenical Convention concluded in Frankfurt May 16 with an open-air church service on the bank of the River Main. With the city's skyline of office towers providing the backdrop, some 400 people attended the service, including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis has named Jesuit Father Stephen Chow Sau-yan, a native of Hong Kong and provincial of the Jesuits' Chinese province, to be the new bishop of Hong Kong.
NEW DELHI - Catholic officials in India are working to help citizens get help during the second wave of COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdown.
JERUSALEM - Christian leaders in the Holy Land expressed deep concern over growing Israeli-Palestinian violence, as the two sides clashed in Jerusalem and Israel launched airstrikes into Gaza, responding to rocket attacks.
Priests charged in bishop’s shooting
VATICAN CITY -- Gunmen broke into the home of the bishop-designate of Rumbek, South Sudan, shot him in both legs and fled, according to Church news reports, with three local priests among the 12 people arrested for their possible involvement in the attack April 26.
U.S. re-opens door to more refugees
WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden announced May 3 he was raising the historically low refugee cap of 15,000 left by the Trump administration, but he also warned that his administration may not be able to meet the new number of refugees it is seeking to resettle in what remains of the fiscal year: 62,500.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lankan churches once again have halted services, church weddings and Sunday schools due to a third wave of COVID-19 infections.
Bishops denounce revival of fetal tissue research
WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee is calling on the Biden administration to fund research “that does not rely upon body parts taken from innocent children killed through abortion.”