News/International

The 100,000 Armenians who fled en masse after Azerbaijan seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh — the enclave known to Armenians as Artsakh — last September are now facing a bitter winter as homeless refugees in Armenia.

U.S. bishops identify liberty concerns

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A new annual report by the U.S. bishops’ conference identifies five top threats to religious liberty in the United States, including a federal regulation it says could impose mandates on doctors to perform objectionable procedures and threats to the Church’s service to people who are migrants.

Notre Dame roof structure completed

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In a historic year for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which the French capital and the whole world will see reopen Dec. 8, milestones will be reported on regularly, but this one made Parisians shed a tear or two: Reconstruction of the roof structure is now complete.

Bishop Rolando Álvarez released, exiled from Nicaragua after over 500 days of detention

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Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa has been released from prison and sent into exile along with 18 imprisoned churchmen as the Nicaraguan government expelled its most prominent critic, whose presence behind bars bore witness to the Sandinista regime descent into totalitarianism, along with its unrelenting persecution of the Catholic Church.

Not appropriate to bless same-sex couples in Africa, bishops say

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Reaffirming their fidelity to the pope and the Gospel, Catholic bishops in Africa have released a common response to a recent Vatican declaration, saying they "generally prefer" not to offer blessings to same-sex couples.

Thousands gather in Sydney for Cardinal Pell's memorial Mass

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Thousands gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney in memory of a man they loved for his vision and "big heart" a year after his death in Rome.

Wisconsin judge suspends criminal case against McCarrick

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A Wisconsin judge has suspended a criminal case against former cardinal Theodore McCarrick Jan. 10, citing incompetency. McCarrick had been charged with fourth-degree sexual assault for abuse that allegedly took place in 1977.

Poland's bishops pledge dialogue with new government; others see conflict ahead for church

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Poland's bishops have pledged dialogue with their country's new liberal government, but leading Catholics warned that government plans for rapid secularizing change could spark conflict as the ruling coalition plans to limit religious classes in public schools and abolish the state Church Fund.

'No' to same-sex blessings, say two Eastern Catholic bishops

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The apostolic administrator of Toronto’s Byzantine Catholic Eparchy has joined with a Ukrainian archbishop in rejecting a controversial Vatican document on pastoral blessings for same-sex couples and other unmarried couples.

Hong Kong Catholic Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty in national security trial

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Prominent Hong Kong Catholic, philanthropist and media mogul Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty to endangering national security in a trial that democracy advocates around the world said includes bogus charges.

Argentine church stops receiving state funding

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Argentina's Catholic Church will no longer receive public funding, concluding a process established by the country's bishops' conference for the church to provide its own financing.