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News/International

People wait in Ofakim, Israel, for a convoy Nov. 26 carrying newly released hostages who were seized during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.

For hostages’ families, the painful wait continues

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It’s a nightmare scenario that no parent would ever want to experience. Fifty days after her children were taken hostage, Hadas Kalderon did not see their names on the list of the first three rounds of released hostages.

People gather in Tel Aviv, Nov. 24, 2023, as they await news of the hostages to be released by Hamas amid a hostages-prisoners swap deal with Israel. After a cease-fire took effect earlier in the day, 24 women and children hostages -- 13 Israeli civilians, 10 Thai and 1 Filipino -- were released by Hamas in the evening. They were transported by the Red Cross across Egypt's Rafah border into the Gaza Strip, then transferred to Israel. In exchange for receiving the hostages, Israel was releasing at least 150 Palestinians -- also women and children -- and allowing fuel, medicine and other humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

On third day of cease-fire, more Hamas hostages freed; Israel releases more Palestinians

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The Hamas militant group Nov. 26 released a third group of hostages numbering 17, who include 12 Israelis, one American woman and an Israeli-American child and three Thai nationals, according to The Associated Press, and Israel confirmed it freed another 39 Palestinians.

Pope Francis meets relatives of hostages taken by Hamas militants from Israel Oct. 7 in his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, at the Vatican Nov. 22, 2023. Members of the delegation carried posters of their loved ones.

Pope Francis holds separate meetings with Israelis, Palestinians at Vatican

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With hopes growing for a temporary, humanitarian cease-fire, Pope Francis met at the Vatican Nov. 22 with relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas and, separately, with relatives of Palestinians suffering under the Israeli siege of Gaza.

Sagrada Familía lights the four towers of the Evangelists for the first time Nov. 14. They are the newest additions to the basilica in Barcelona, Spain, the masterpiece begun by Antonio Gaudí 140 years ago.

Sagrada Familia a step nearer completion

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It seemed like one of Antonio Gaudí's dreams come true.

On Nov. 12, the papal nuncio to Spain, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, blessed the towers of the Evangelists of the famous Sagrada Familía basilica in Barcelona. Gaudí, a legendary Catalan architect, started working on the now-iconic basilica 140 years ago. Five generations now have watched the temple’s progress.

Cardinal Juan Jose Omella of Barcelona, Spain, is pictured in a 2018 file photo in New York. The Barcelona Archdiocese will combine most parishes into larger pastoral communities in an effort to better utilize pastoral resources.

Spanish cardinal urges calm as protests mount over separatist amnesty

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The president of the Spanish bishops' conference has appealed for calm following mass protests against the planned release of jailed Catalan separatists under a deal with the new socialist-led government.

Pope Francis receives a gift from Sultan al-Jaber, the president-designate of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP28, during a meeting at the Vatican Oct. 11, 2023. COP28 is set to open Nov. 30 in Dubai and the pope will travel there Dec. 1-3.

Dubai bound: Pope Francis seeks action at COP28

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When Pope Francis visits Dubai in the United Arab Emirates Dec. 1-3 to address the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference, he will be the first pope ever to attend one of the global gatherings that began in 1995.

An exterior view of the Fontaine Hospital Center is pictured in the neighborhood of Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 27, 2023. The hospital located in an extremely impoverished area of Haiti's capital -- had to be evacuated Nov. 15 after armed gang clashes enveloped the facility.

Haiti hospital attack shows 'those most in need' pay price of violence, says CRS rep

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A recent attack on a hospital in Haiti underscores the desperate condition of that nation's civilians, a Catholic Relief Services official told OSV News.

Argentine President-elect Javier Milei addresses supporters in Buenos Aires Nov. 19, 2023, after winning Argentina's runoff presidential election. Milei has derided Pope Francis as a "filthy leftist," though some weeks ahead of the election he softened his tone to win more centrist voters, according to analysts.

Javier Milei wins presidential elections in Argentina

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Upstart presidential candidate Javier Milei, who attacked Pope Francis as "filthy leftist," overwhelmingly won Argentina's presidential election on a radical libertarian platform of dollarizing the economy and shrinking the state in a country beset by recurring economic crises and triple-digit inflation.

A man embraces Palestinian children as people search for casualties at the site of an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Gaza City.

Christians fear for Holy Land future

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Despite a looming threat of being displaced forever from the Holy Land, the Christian community in Gaza is staying faithful to its commitment to help compatriots in facing an increasingly serious humanitarian crisis as war consumes all around them.

Indi Gregory, an 8-month-old child suffering from a degenerative disease who was at the center of a legal battle in the U.K. to keep her on life support, is pictured Sept. 22, 2023, the day of her baptism. Indi died on Nov. 13, 2023.

Indi Gregory, British girl whose life support was halted by court, dies

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Indi Gregory, a British girl whose parents battled the British courts to have her life support extended, died at 1:45 a.m. U.K. time Nov. 13.

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, and other U.S. bishops concelebrate Mass in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica during their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican Jan. 20, 2020. The bishops were making their "ad limina" visits to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. The Holy See Press Office announced Nov. 11, 2023, that Pope Francis has "relieved" Bishop Strickland from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler.

Bishop Strickland removed from diocese after accusing pope of backing 'attack on the sacred'

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Pope Francis has "relieved" Bishop Joseph E. Strickland from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, the Holy See Press Office announced Nov. 11. Simultaneously, Francis has appointed Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin as apostolic administrator to oversee the diocese until a new bishop is appointed.

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