News/International
Lebanon's religious leaders affirm Christianity's role in Middle East
By Doreen Abi Raad, Catholic News ServiceBEIRUT - Lebanon's Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim religious leaders affirmed the "essential role" of the Christian presence in the Middle East and called for terrorism in the region to be confronted "culturally, educationally and politically."
Syrian refugees in Jordan cling to hope for peace so they can go home
By Dale Gavlak, Catholic News ServiceZAATARI CAMP, Jordan - Abu Bilal, a slender man in his 40s, is surrounded by cages of bright yellow canaries merrily twittering.
Priest advocates for peace in Colombia
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterNobody has shot at Fr. Jesus Alberto Franco since Feb. 13, 2013. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the situation in Colombia is getting better.
President, first lady to welcome Pope Francis to White House Sept. 23
By Catholic News ServiceWASHINGTON - President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will welcome Pope Francis to the White House Sept. 23.
Richard III, Catholic king of England, reburied at Leicester Cathedral
By Simon Caldwell, Catholic News ServiceMANCHESTER, England - One of England's last Catholic kings was reburied three years after his skeleton was discovered in a coffin beneath a parking lot.
Pope's visit to Turin will highlight shroud, young people, marginalized
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will spend two days in Turin to venerate the Shroud of Turin; meet young people, workers, juvenile detainees, immigrants and the sick; and visit with his Italian relatives from northern Italy.
Catholics and Anglicans prepare ecumenical burial fit for a king
By Trevor Grundy, Religion News ServiceCANTERBURY, England - Tens of thousands of people in Leicester — England’s most religiously diverse city — are getting ready to honour the memory of a long-despised English king with a ceremony that testifies to the already warm relationship between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.
Nigerian bishops visit refugees in Cameroon who fled Boko Haram
By Peter Ajayi Dada, Catholic News ServiceLAGOS, Nigeria - A delegation representing Catholic organizations in Nigeria offered words of comfort and pledged help for Nigerian refugees who fled to neighbouring Cameroon because of a violent insurgency.
Church leaders, agencies see education as key to Haiti's future
By Dennis Sadowski, Catholic News ServicePORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Bishop Launay Saturne of Jacmel has a simple vision that he believes could change the future of Haiti.
SSPX bishop excommunicated — again — for illicit ordination
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News ServiceA traditionalist bishop who has denied the Holocaust has been automatically excommunicated along with the priest he illicitly ordained a bishop.
Patriarch rejects calls for outside military intervention in Syria
By Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY - The head of the Melkite Catholic Church rejected outright all calls for an international military intervention in Syria and urged Pope Francis and all Christian churches to "promote a concrete and realistic road map" to peace in the beleaguered nation.