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News/International

Buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes are seen in Gaza City Oct. 10, 2023. Israel launched the airstrikes in retaliation for the assault on the country by Hamas.

Holy Land church leaders plead for Gaza humanitarian corridor

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Patriarchs and heads of all the churches in Jerusalem have issued an urgent appeal to Israel and the international community to open a humanitarian corridor, to assist people caught in what many fear is an imminent humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip.  

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, poses for a photo while speaking to reporters at the Vatican Sept. 28, 2023.

Jerusalem cardinal offers himself in exchange for Israeli hostages

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The Catholic Church's highest ranking prelate in the Holy Land offered his "absolute availability" to be exchanged for Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas.

Family and friends mourn Danielle, 25, and Noam, 26, an Israeli couple who were killed in a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from Gaza as they attended a festival, as they are buried next to each other during their funeral in Kiryat Tivon, Israel, Oct. 12, 2023.

Israeli families missing loved ones wait for proof of life; patriarch appeals for prayer, fasting

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Just before the children in her kindergarten class went on vacation for the Jewish Sukkot Festival, Romina Shvalb, 42, a kindergarten teacher in the quiet Israeli kibbutz of Nir Oz near the Gaza border, had baked challah -- the braided sweet bread Jews traditionally eat on the Sabbath and holidays -- with the children.

An aerial view shows restoration work under way this summer at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Notre Dame rebuild a ‘sign of hope for everyone,’ rector says

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Refugees from the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan ride in a truck upon their arrival at the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia, Sept. 27. Tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians, most of them Christian, are fleeing the enclave Armenians call Artsakh following a defeat by surrounding Azerbaijan forces.

Fear of erasure fuels Artsakh exodus

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In a chilling reminder of the Nazi blitzkrieg that ripped through Europe in the 1940s, Azerbaijan, with a lightning military offensive on Sept. 19, dealt a fatal blow to Artsakh (also called Nagorno Karabakh), a disputed territory within its boundaries, sending almost all of its 120,000 Christian Armenians into forced exile.

People mourn at the graveside of Eden Guez during her funeral in Ashkelon, Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. She was killed while attending a festival that was attacked by Hamas gunmen from Gaza.

Pilgrims pray as Israeli families mourn loved ones

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Pilgrims who were in Israel following a surprise terrorist attack by Hamas terrorists against civilian communities in southern Israel Oct. 7 lit candles and said prayers of peace at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as fighting continued in southern Israel.

A building in Tel Aviv, Israel, is ablaze following rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas militants breached Israeli security along the Gaza border and sent a barrage of over 2,000 rockets that reached into Jerusalem and Tel Aviv areas, resulting in hundreds dead and hundreds more injured.

Hamas attack a catastrophe of 'biblical dimensions,' says Israeli ambassador

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The shock of the surprise attack by Hamas militants on Israel, in which hundreds were killed, wounded or kidnapped, has left a traumatic mark on Israeli citizens, said the country’s ambassador to the Vatican.

Palestinian militants ride an Israeli military vehicle that was seized by gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip Oct. 7, 2023.

Jerusalem church leaders call for peace following deadly Hamas attack

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Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem united in a call for peace and justice amid unfolding violence, following a surprise attack by Hamas in southern Israel, which has left over 700 Israelis dead, among them civilians and dozens of soldiers and police who were killed battling the Hamas fighters. Over 2,000 people were injured. Israeli media said that more than 250 bodies had been recovered from the site of the music festival that was attacked by Hamas fighters on Oct. 7 in southern Israel.

David Harapetyan, an ethnic Armenian and taxi driver who came from the Russian city of Stavropol to lend assistance, hands over food and water to refugees fleeing from Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region as they arrive in the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia, Sept. 27, 2023.

Fleeing ethnic Armenian Christians 'completely disregarded' for political, economic profits, says bishop

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An Armenian Catholic bishop told OSV News that tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians have been "completely disregarded for political and economic profits," as Azerbaijan takes control over their former home.

Rescue workers and others walk outside Santa Cruz Church in Madero, Mexico, after the roof collapsed Oct. 1, 2023, during a Mass and baptismal service. At lease 10 people died and another 60 people were injured in the collapse, with 23 remaining hospitalized.

Roof collapse at Mexican church kills 10 during baptism celebration

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A roof collapsed during Mass in a Mexican church, claiming at least 10 lives as Catholic leaders offered prayers for the dead and injured, and Mexican society expressed sorrow over the tragedy.

A woman reacts as protesters gather Sept. 20, 2023, near a government building in Yerevan, Armenia, following the launch a day earlier of a military operation by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. A ceasefire was declared Sept. 20 in the region, which is a historic Armenian enclave located in southwestern Azerbaijan and internationally recognized as part of that nation.

Artsakh burns while Western leaders fiddle

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In the pre-dawn hours of yet another tranquil Ottawa morning — Sept. 19 — my cell phone buzzed. With a sense of foreboding and apprehension I speed-read the message that popped up.

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