News/International
Israel's Christian students demonstrate against cuts in school budgets
By Judith Sudilovsky, Catholic News ServiceJERUSALEM - As Israeli students began their second week of classes Sept. 6, thousands of students and teachers from Christian schools converged in front of the Israeli prime minister's office to protest government budget cuts to their schools.
Israeli Christian schools strike to protest cuts in public funding
By Michele Chabin, Religion News ServiceJERUSALEM - Israel’s 47 Christian schools are entering the second week of an open-ended strike to protest ongoing cuts in government allocations, which they attribute to government discrimination against minority religious groups.
Protests, prayer provoke change in Guatemalan government
By David Agren, Catholic News ServiceGUATEMALA CITY - Mass at the Divine Providence Parish, celebrated shortly after polls closed in this country's recent elections, included intentions. The parishioners prayed for the "people and pastors" of Guatemala, along with the country itself -- where citizens, protesting peacefully for months, forced a president accused of corruption to resign in the days prior to the Sept. 6 vote.
Good sports: Young adults build faith, community through athletics
By Denis Grasska, Catholic News ServiceSAN DIEGO - A ministry focusing on the excitement and friendship that can come from athletic competition is bringing young people together in faith.
Most U.S. Catholics are fine with nontraditional families
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, Religion News ServiceFamilies are one great reason why Pope Francis is coming to America.
Mural of pope looks out over New York's Madison Square Garden Mass site
By Maria Pia Negro Chin, Catholic News ServiceNEW YORK - New Yorkers and tourists in midtown Manhattan have been gazing up at a smiling Pope Francis at one of New York's busiest intersections.
Church agencies highlight growing urgency of Europe's refugee crisis
By Jonathan Luxmoore, Catholic News ServiceOXFORD, England - Catholic aid agencies have urged Europeans not to turn against migrants seeking refuge from Syria and other countries, in what media reports describe as the continent's greatest refugee movement since the Second World War.
Cardinal says Britons seeing human face of suffering migrants
By Catholic News ServiceLONDON - Images of drowned refugees are causing the British people to cry out for a more generous response to the migrant crisis engulfing Europe, said an English cardinal.
Pope's visit comes at time of hope for Cubans
By Ezra Fieser, Catholic News ServiceSANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Pope Francis' visit to Cuba is a sign of his closeness to the nation's people at a time they "breathe the air of hope" that relations with the United States will improve, said Bishop Wilfredo Pino Estevez of Guantanamo-Baracoa.
Church supports Indians on nationwide strike
By Catholic News ServiceNEW DELHI - The Catholic Church in India supported some 150 million workers on a nationwide strike that shut down factories, banks, traffic and government offices across India Sept. 2.
Observers expect Pope Francis to affirm and challenge politicians during visit
By Tom Tracy, Catholic News ServiceWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner -- two high-profile Catholic politicians -- the visual of Pope Francis' Sept. 24 address to Congress will signal an evolving narrative.