News/International

Victims and relatives of children who claim they were sexually abused by the Catholic Church hold placards as they stand outside the venue for Australia's Royal Commission Into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney Feb. 29.

Cardinal says he reported complaints, but did not know of sex abuse

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SYDNEY - For a third consecutive day, a top Vatican official gave testimony to an Australian commission about what he knew of the Church's reassignment of abusive priests.

David Ridsdale, who was sexually abused by his uncle Father Gerald Ridsdale, shows a yellow ribbon as he speaks with media in front of the Hotel Quirinale in Rome Feb. 28. Australian Cardinal George Pell is testifying via video link from the hotel to Australia's Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney.

Cardinal: Bishop committed 'gross deception' about Australian pedophile

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SYDNEY - When former Bishop Ronald Mulkearns of Ballarat moved a pedophile priest from parish to parish in the early 1970s without divulging the underlying reasons for the moves, the appointments implied the bishop had confidence in the priest, Cardinal George Pell told Australia's Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Men in Accra, Ghana, look at a newspaper stand in this Dec. 8, 2012, file photo. West African bishops urge Catholics to defend traditional marriage as influences from other nations are offered as keys to development.

West African bishops urge Catholics to defend traditional marriage, family

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ACCRA, Ghana - The bishops of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa called on Catholics to defend traditional marriage and the family as they met in the Ghanaian capital.

Police forces clash with protesters at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, in this Oct. 23, 2015, file photo.

South African archbishop: University violence is reaction to inequality

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Violence and vandalism at South African universities are reactions to inequality in the country, said Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria, spokesman for the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference.

Australian Cardinal George Pell is seen in this Oct. 6, 2014 file photo at the Vatican.

Cardinal tells Australian abuse hearing he won't defend indefensible

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SYDNEY - The Vatican's Prefect for the Secretariat of the Economy, Cardinal George Pell, told a special hearing of Australia's Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that he was not trying "to defend the indefensible."

Girl Scout Julia Ocasio, 13, and Boy Scout Thomas Perotta, 10, use collection baskets during a Scout Sunday Mass Feb. 7 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood of the New York borough of Brooklyn.

St. Louis archbishop pushes for switch to Girl Scout alternatives

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ST. LOUIS - The Archdiocese of St. Louis has formed a new Catholic Committee for Girls Formation that is being charged with ministry to all girls in the archdiocese.

A refugee woman from Syria carries food while other displaced people sit near a border gate in Kilis, Turkey, Feb. 9. More than 30,000 people are stranded in northern Aleppo province after Turkish government forces closed border crossings.

Ministry in Aleppo is about keeping hope alive

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VATICAN CITY - Even in the midst of constant bombing, Jesuit and Salesian priests remain in war-torn Aleppo, Syria, trying to create a sense of normalcy for those unable to leave.

People gather to demonstrate in favor of the law on civil unions in Florence, Italy, Jan. 23. After months of public debate and protests, the Italian Senate passed a bill that grants legal recognition to nonmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples.

Italian Senate passes civil unions bill

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ROME - After months of public debate and protests, the Italian Senate passed a controversial bill that grants legal recognition to non-married heterosexual and homosexual couples.

Retired cleric the Rev. Patrizio Benvenuti was put under house arrest in Italy earlier this month.

Businessman arrested in Ponzi scheme that police say priest abetted

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ROME - Police in Spain have arrested a fugitive businessman accused of swindling pensioners from the U.S. and elsewhere out of millions of euros with the backing of a Catholic priest who worked at the Vatican before retiring to the Canary Islands.

Bishop Douglas Crosby

Western Hemisphere bishops seek ways to boost 'encounter with Christ'

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TAMPA, Fla. - Fourteen bishops from Canada, the United States and Latin America explored ways to invite the faithful into what Pope Francis has called "an encounter with Jesus Christ" during three days of prayer and discussion.

A Mozambican refugee walks towards his mother in Mwanza, Malawi, Feb. 7. Malaria and cold nights add to the suffering of the increasing number of Mozambicans arriving at a makeshift camp in Malawi to escape violence at home, said a church worker in Malawi.

Disease, cold add to suffering of Mozambicans who fled to Malawi

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Malaria and cold nights add to the suffering of the increasing number of Mozambicans arriving at a makeshift camp in Malawi to escape violence at home, said a church worker in Malawi.

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