News/International

Pope Francis blesses a plaque commemorating St. John Paul II's 1988 visit during the arrival ceremony at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport in Asuncion, Paraguay, July 10.

Pope honours St. John Paul's historic visit to Paraguay

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ASUNCION, Paraguay - Arriving in Paraguay July 10, Pope Francis paid tribute to the historic visit to the country made in 1988 by St. John Paul II, a visit many people saw as contributing to the end of one of the world's longest military dictatorships.

A family prays before Sunday Mass starts at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Alexandria, Va., Nov. 27, 2011.

U.S. Catholic families: strong on prayer, weak on sacraments

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Most of today’s American Catholic parents don’t go to Mass, provide any Catholic education for their children or stress the basic sacraments beyond baptism.

Pope Francis speaks at the second World Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, July 9.

Pope to activists: Defend the earth, demand economic reform

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SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - Meeting with an international gathering of grassroots activists, Pope Francis not only encouraged, but tried to add fuel to their fire for "standing up to an idolatrous (economic) system which excludes, debases and kills."

A family pays a wheelbarrow operator to take a box of sandwiches and other care items to a relative inside the Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, July 8. Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the prison July 10.

Bolivian families, Church workers hope Pope's prison visit spurs change

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SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - Fernando Fernande brought toilet paper, soap and food to the Palmasola prison, where his son has been locked up for the past two years.

People pray the Our Father during Mass with Pope Francis in Christ the Redeemer Square in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, July 9.

Eucharistic sharing is call to mission, to feeding the poor, Pope says

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SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - The Eucharist is a missionary sacrament; it calls people to give all they are and have to God, seek His blessing and then take His love to the world, Pope Francis said at the opening Mass for Bolivia's national eucharistic congress.

Bolivian President Evo Morales presents a gift to Pope Francis at the government palace in La Paz, Bolivia, July 8. The gift was a wooden hammer and sickle -- the symbol of communism -- with a figure of a crucified Christ.

Pope Francis not amused by 'communist crucifix'

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La Paz, Bolivia - Pope Francis shook his head no and told Bolivia's president, "this is not okay," after being presented with  a “communist crucifix” — a carving of Christ crucified on the hammer of a hammer and sickle.

Pope Francis walks with Bolivian President Evo Morales and children in traditional dress as he arrives at El Alto International Airport in La Paz, Bolivia, July 8. The airport is over 4000 metres above sea level.

Arriving in Bolivia, Pope insists on church's role in public life

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LA PAZ, Bolivia - Praising Bolivia's efforts to include all its citizens in the country's economic, political and social life, Pope Francis also defended the record and the right of the Catholic Church to be an active member of society and the right of the bishops to comment on public issues.

Pope Francis places flowers at a statue of Mary before meeting with clergy, religious men and women, and seminarians at the El Quinche National Marian Shrine in Quito, Ecuador, July 8.

At Marian shrine, Pope reminds clergy, religious: Remember your roots

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QUITO, Ecuador - Clergy and religious must remember that all they have is freely given by God and they must never forget where they came from, Pope Francis told sisters, priests, seminarians and bishops gathered July 8 at the El Quinche Marian shrine near here.

California Governor Jerry Brown told Climate Summit of the Americas delegates July 8 that Pope Francis’ discussion of climate change as a moral issue is critical.

Laudato Si' front and centre at Americas' climate summit

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TORONTO - California Governor Jerry Brown, in Toronto for the Climate Summit of the Americas, claims he is travelling with a copy of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ and “going through it carefully.”

People queue to withdraw money from an ATM outside a branch of Greece's National Bank in Athens, Greece, July 6.

Greek archbishop hopeful for new deal to save his country's economy

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ATHENS, Greece - A Greek archbishop said he was hopeful for a last-minute deal to save his country from bankruptcy.

The sponsors behind a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide pulled it hours before a California state Assembly hearing July 7. Here, a palliative care patient smiles as a Dominican Sister plays the piano at a nursing home for people with incurable cancer.

California assisted suicide bill appears dead for 2015

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SAN FRANCISCO - The primary sponsors of legislation legalizing physician-assisted suicide pulled the bill hours before a state Assembly hearing July 7, with its authors saying the bill was dead for this year.

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