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News/International

After river flooding had forced the temporary closure of the famous grotto at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France Sept. 7, 2024, the grotto was cleaned and was reopened, with no pilgrimages canceled. Flooded grotto is seen on screenshot of the sanctuary's Sept. 7 video.

Flash flooding temporarily closes Lourdes' grotto

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River flooding forced the temporary closure of the famous grotto at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France. The shrine complex remained open to visitors. A morning Mass, however, was canceled Sept. 7 at the major Catholic pilgrimage site, which has experienced several major floods in recent years.

Pope Francis greets the faithful outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption before a meeting with bishops, priests, deacons, religious, seminarians and pastoral workers in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept. 4, 2024.

Suspects who threatened Pope Francis arrested in Indonesia, local police say

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Not long after Pope Francis left Indonesia, authorities there announced they had arrested seven people for making online "terror threats" against the pope.

A law enforcement officer works near the scene of a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., Sept. 4, 2024.

Multiple dead after mass shooting at Georgia high school

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A mass shooting took place at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Sept. 4, local officials reported.

Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno, Poland, delivers homily Aug. 26, 2024, during Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa at the shrine of Jasna Góra in Czestochowa.

Polish church defends religious teaching against new government curbs

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Poland's Catholic bishops have urged schools to continue offering religious teaching after government attempts to restrict it were blocked by the Constitutional Tribunal following church appeals.

Interior of historic Church of the Immaculate Conception in the northern French town of Saint-Omer is seen in an undated photo. A man was taken into police custody after a major fire broke out at the church in the morning hours of Sept. 2, 2024. causing its bell tower to collapse.

Bell tower at historic church in northern France collapses in arson fire

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A man was taken into police custody after a major fire broke out at the historic Church of the Immaculate Conception in the northern French town of Saint-Omer in the morning hours of Sept. 2, causing its bell tower to collapse.

Pope Francis is greeted by Indonesian government and church leaders upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept. 3, 2024. The pope plans a four-day stay in Indonesia to visit the country's Catholic community, meet government and civic officials and promote interreligious dialogue.

Pope arrives in Indonesia at start of four-nation tour

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Pope Francis landed in Jakarta after a 13-hour flight from Rome and was greeted by the religious affairs minister of Indonesia and two children in traditional dress who offered him flowers.

Guatemalan soldiers use a pile of sandbags as a trench as they take part in an operation in Cuilco, Guatemala, July 26, 2024, to protect Mexican citizens who fled to neighboring Guatemala amid armed clashes between criminal groups fighting over drug trafficking routes and other crimes.

Guatemala cardinal: Drug cartels wield 'total power' on border with Mexico

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Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, has warned that drug cartels control the border between Mexico and Guatemala, provoking spasms of violence which have sent hundreds of Mexicans fleeing into his diocese.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas watches as migrants disembark at Lajas Blancas, Panama, amid their journey through that nation's Darién Gap, during the bishop's pastoral visit amid the 10th Meeting of Bishops and Migration Pastoral Agents of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, which took place Aug. 19-23 in Panama.

Seitz at the deadly DarienGap: 'You could see the suffering in their faces'

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Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, recently spoke with OSV News following his return from the 10th Meeting of Bishops and Migration Pastoral Agents of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, which took place Aug. 19-23 in Panama.

The Shroud of Turin is pictured in a file photo during a preview for journalists at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.

New study says Shroud of Turin bloodstains are 'consistent with Jesus Christ's tortures'

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A study published in July revealed that a new analysis of the Shroud of Turin, including the composition and a microscopic analysis of bloodstains, shows that the marks are consistent with the tortures endured by Christ as described in the Gospels.

In this file photo, a visitor waves China's flag as Pope Francis leads his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican May 22, 2019.

As 'fruit' of dialogue, China recognizes bishop, Vatican says

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After five years of refusal, the Chinese government has officially recognized Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen as bishop of Tianjin, the Vatican said, in what it called "a positive fruit of the dialogue established over the years between the Holy See and the Chinese government."

Pope Francis gives his blessing to visitors in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican after the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer Aug. 25, 2024.

Pope Francis expresses concern about religious freedom in Ukraine

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"Please, let no Christian church be abolished directly or indirectly: the churches are not to be touched," Pope Francis said about a Ukrainian law banning the Russian Orthodox Church, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Aug. 24, Ukrainian independence day.

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