News/International

PISA, Italy – A campaign to block construction of a new mosque near the Leaning Tower of Pisa imperils Italy’s commitment to religious freedom, warn those who defend Muslims’ right to build it.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Catholic bishops of New Mexico said they oppose Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's plan to reinstate the death penalty and called on the Legislature to reject it.

SEOUL, South Korea – Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai, visiting the South Korean capital of Seoul, urged the international community to end the wars raging in the Middle East "fueled by foreign countries."

And so the quadrennial international ritual known as the Summer Olympic Games is over.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Texas has sided with school districts opposing the Obama administration’s directive on transgender bathrooms, temporarily blocking the directive just before on the first day of school in Texas Monday.

MILWAUKEE – Violence stems from a breakdown in communication, Fr. Bob Stiefvater told more than 450 people gathered at All Saints Church in Milwaukee for a Mass of peace Aug. 18.

MANILA, Philippines – Catholic and Protestant bishops in the Philippines have called for a "deeper analysis" of the spate of killings in the country that have been linked to the government's anti-narcotics campaign.

Middle Eastern Christians have suffered soft, state-sponsored discrimination since the Ottomans ruled and that discrimination has been reinforced over generations by poor, underfunded education systems throughout the region. More recently this evil brew has been stirred into feverish, bigoted campaigns of hate spread by Saudi-funded Wahhabi preachers.

ROME – An Italian bishop has threatened to take legal action against “Pokemon Go,” describing the game as “diabolical” and a “totalitarian system like Nazism.”

SAN GERMAN, Puerto Rico – Mistrust of local government and federal agencies has caused doubt among Puerto Ricans about reports the Zika epidemic poses a grave situation to the island.