News/International
Four Missionaries of Charity among 16 slain in Yemen by gunmen
By Rosie Scammell, Religion News ServiceROME - Four nuns from the order founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta are reportedly among 16 killed by gunmen who attacked a Church-run retirement home in Yemen, the latest attack on Christians in the increasingly lawless country.
Australian cardinal promises victims to support healing, protection
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News ServiceROME - Australian Cardinal George Pell promised to work with a group of abuse survivors to help prevent suicide among victims and support healing and protection programs.
Cardinal says he reported complaints, but did not know of sex abuse
By Catholic News ServiceSYDNEY - 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.
Cardinal: Bishop committed 'gross deception' about Australian pedophile
By Catholic News ServiceSYDNEY - 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.
West African bishops urge Catholics to defend traditional marriage, family
By Damian Avevor, Catholic News ServiceACCRA, 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.
South African archbishop: University violence is reaction to inequality
By Bronwen Dachs, Catholic News ServiceCAPE 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.
Cardinal tells Australian abuse hearing he won't defend indefensible
By Catholic News ServiceSYDNEY - 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."
St. Louis archbishop pushes for switch to Girl Scout alternatives
By Jennifer Brinker, Catholic News ServiceST. 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.
Ministry in Aleppo is about keeping hope alive
By Gaby Maniscalco, Catholic News ServiceVATICAN 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.
Italian Senate passes civil unions bill
By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News ServiceROME - 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.
Businessman arrested in Ponzi scheme that police say priest abetted
By Rosie Scammell, Religion News ServiceROME - 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.