News/International

A Washington-based editor sizes up a cartoon image of Pope Francis June 24. Catholic Extension created "Flat Francis" to help people welcome the pontiff when he makes his U.S. visit in September.

‘Flat Francis’ helps build excitement for Pope's U.S. visit

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WASHINGTON - Pope Francis isn't going to be visiting the United States until September, but that hasn't kept the Pope from going all around the nation, if only as a simple piece of paper for the time being.

A woman works on a small statue of Pope Francis at the workshop of Ecuadorean sculptor Ramon Guato in Quito June 12. Guato, a sculptor of religious figures, has prepared about 2,000 figures to be sold at Catholic libraries ahead of the upcoming visit by Pope Francis to Ecuador in July.

Ecuadoreans expect Pope will address care for creation during July visit

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LIMA, Peru - When Pope Francis lands in Ecuador July 5, he will be returning to a country where he has long-standing bonds of ministry and friendship.

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles says the California Senate’s decision to legalize physician-assisted suicide is a distraction from discussing public health issues like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. He is pictured at a symposium in Rome May 2.

Compassion in physician-assisted suicide 'hollow,' says L.A. archbishop

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LOS ANGELES - After the California Senate voted to legalize physician-assisted suicide in the state, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez called it the wrong response to a "public health crisis."

A migrant is assisted after arriving in Reggio Calabria, Italy, May 4. The Italian Coast Guard said at least 10 migrants died off Libya as they tried to cross the Mediterranean. Bishops across Europe have called for wider acceptance of migrants fleeing w ar and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.

European bishops call on EU to welcome migrants fleeing war, poverty

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MANCHESTER, England - Bishops across the European Union are calling on member states to be generous toward tens of thousands of migrants flooding across the Mediterranean.

Retired Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem, Auxiliary Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo of Jerusalem, Maronite Catholic Bishop Moussa El-Hage of Haifa and the Holy Land and Father Bishara Suleiman gather during a prayer service at the Benedictine C hurch of the Multiplication in Tabgha, Israel June 21. Arsonists attacked the church June 18, lighting several fires that caused significant damage to the roof and two rooms, but the church, with its 5th-century mosaic floor, survived.

Christians call for justice in demonstration at Galilee church hit by arson

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JERUSALEM - Druze, Muslims and Jews joined thousands of Christians in a demonstration in Galilee three days after an arson attack seriously damaged the Benedictine Church of the Multiplication.

Iraqi Christian children scamper Jan. 21 inside a new camp for displaced religious minorities on the outskirts of Ainkawa, Iraq.

Papal envoy, Maronite patriarch visit displaced Christians in Iraq

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BEIRUT - Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, representing Pope Francis, and Cardinal Bechara Rai, the Maronite Catholic patriarch, traveled to Irbil, Iraq, to meet with Christians who had fled from Islamic State forces.

In this Dec. 14, 2013 file photo, a same-sex couple marries in Jalisco, Mexico.

Mexico Supreme Court ruling makes same-sex marriages legal nationwide

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MEXICO CITY - Mexico's Supreme Court has declared state-level laws, defining marriage only as the union of a man and a woman, discriminatory and unconstitutional. The decision, in effect, legalizes same-sex marriages in all 31 of the country's states.

People living in shelters receive bread trays donated by members of the Donetsk People's Republic militias in Ilovaysk, Ukraine, in this Aug. 14, 2014 file photo,

Archbishop wants G-7, Vatican to do more to ensure Ukraine's security

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WARSAW, Poland - The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church expressed concern that the world's richest countries are failing to honour a 1994 agreement that promised Ukraine security for giving up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons.

Mourners cast shadows on the wall of a makeshift memorial at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., June 18. Nine people were murdered the day before during a Bible study session at the church.

People express heartache, outrage as they mourn shooting victims

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WASHINGTON - The tragic taking of nine lives at a historically black church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, brought an outpouring of solidarity, compassion and sorrow from around the country.

Pope Francis called for a strengthening between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Pope Francis chides world powers for failing to push for peace in Syria

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on June 19 criticized world powers for their failure to find a solution to the Syrian conflict, saying the country’s Christians had been united by “the blood of the martyrs” lost in war.

A couple takes a guided rafting trip inside the Grand Canyon in Arizona Sept. 14, 2014.

Church leaders see encyclical as opening new wave of climate action

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MEXICO CITY - Pope Francis aims to touch the hearts of people so that they act to stem climate change and change their lifestyle to reduce negative impacts on the planet in his encyclical on the environment, said a priest at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina.

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