News/International

ROME – Just ahead of the opening of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis has released a video celebrating the important role of sports in building world peace.

Civil service purges and mass arrests in Turkey since a July 15 failed coup attempt are bad news for religious freedom in what has been one of the Muslim world’s most open and democratic societies, said Canada’s former ambassador for religious freedom.

JERUSALEM – World Vision, one of the world’s largest Christian humanitarian aid organizations, said it has “no reason … at this time” to believe that its operations manager in Gaza funneled tens of millions of dollars in donations to Hamas’ military wing, as Israeli security officials claimed.

ASSISI, Italy – Celebrating how God's mercy has been experienced for 800 years in a tiny stone church in Assisi, Pope Francis said people need to experience God's forgiveness and start learning how to forgive others.

TORONTO – Most Western humanitarian aid is failing to reach the thousands of Christians who have fled their homes as Daesh (or Islamic State) fighters have swept through Iraq and Syria, three Middle Eastern bishops charged at the 134th Knights of Columbus convention in Toronto.

KRAKOW, POLAND – From the outside, a church can look cold and dark. The stained glass windows don’t reveal much of what’s inside. But when you walk in, the sunlight streams through the multi-coloured glass and the church comes alive.

VATICAN CITY – A more important prize than a gold medal is up for grabs at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro: a chance to experience solidarity and contribute to the realization that all people are members of one human family, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – For the young people who will attend World Youth Day 2019 in Panama, the life and martyrdom of Blessed Oscar Romero is a shining example of Christian faith in the midst of struggles, said several bishops from Panama.

Carl Anderson, leader of the Knights of Columbus fraternal order and one of the most influential lay Catholics in the church, has said that abortion outweighs all other issues in the presidential campaign and Catholics cannot vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights.

WASHINGTON – Security tops the list of what Christians of Iraq and Syria want before they'll consider returning to areas they fled when the Islamic State and other extremist groups took over.