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July 14, 2015

Jordan bank of river where Jesus baptized declared UNESCO heritage site

Pope Francis makes the Sign of the Cross in 2014 after praying at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, which UNESCO just declared a World Heritage site and the location of Jesus' baptism.

JERUSALEM - UNESCO declared Bethany Beyond the Jordan, on the eastern side of the Jordan River, as a World Heritage site and the location of Jesus' baptism.

Published in International
May 1, 2015

Amid Nepal’s shattered shrines and temples, a religious fatalism sets in

Bishop Paul Simick of Nepal visits 4-year-old Catholic Sujina Ghale and her mother, Chaju Ghale, in Banyatar, Nepal, April 30. Sujina was presumed dead and was kept among dead bodies for cremation after she was pulled out of the debris of the house following the April 25 earthquake.

KATHMANDU, Nepal - When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake roared through this Himalayan nation April 25, leaving an estimated 5,500 dead and more than 11,000 injured, shrines and temples were sent crashing to the ground, many of them centuries old and irreplaceable cultural treasures.

Published in International
April 28, 2015

Christian exodus from Mideast weakens moderate Islam: Cardinal Rai

A woman who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar sits with a child inside a tent at a camp in Syria's northern town of Qamishli Aug. 17, 2014.

PARIS - The exodus of Christians from the Middle East — due to wars, conflicts, socio-economic crises and persecution — will weaken moderate Islam "which, thanks to the Islamic-Christian conviviality, is so far the vast majority of Muslims in the Middle East," said Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai.

Published in International
July 5, 2012

Nuncio cautious about church's designation as World Heritage site

Archbishop Antonio Franco, papal nuncio to Israel and the Palestinian territories

JERUSALEM - The designation of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity as a UNESCO World Heritage site complicates relations between the three churches that oversee the holy site as well as relations between the Israeli and Palestinian communities, said a church official.

Archbishop Antonio Franco, papal nuncio to Israel and the Palestinian territories, said the Catholic Church believes the church which marks the site of Christ's birth is part of the church's "patrimony as holy places, not because they are on a UNESCO list."

Published in International
July 3, 2012

UNESCO adds Church of Nativity to list of heritage sites in danger

A tourist takes a photograph in the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem June 28. UNESCO declared parts of Bethlehem and the church endangered World Heritage sites to expedite funding for repairs.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - UNESCO has placed sites in Bethlehem, West Bank — including the Church of the Nativity — on its list of World Heritage in Danger.

In a 13-6 vote with two abstentions, the World Heritage Committee added the sites to the danger list June 29 during a meeting in St. Petersburg.

Published in International