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News/International

Cardinal reports progress in reform as Legionaries start chapter

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ROME - As the Legionaries of Christ started their extraordinary general chapter, the cardinal overseeing the troubled congregation said scandal had taken a toll on its finances, but that members had made progress in overcoming the moral and administrative legacy of their disgraced founder.

A French soldier patrols near a house on fire Jan. 3 at a village in Bossangoa, Central African Republic. The nation's Catholic bishops criticized media portrayals of their country's conflict as religious in nature and listed preconditions for restoring peace and effective governance.

Central African bishops say conflict mischaracterized as religious

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OXFORD, England - Catholic bishops in the Central African Republic criticized media portrayals of their country's conflict as religious in nature and listed preconditions for restoring peace and effective governance.

Pope Francis has set April 27 as the date for the canonization of Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II. The two pontiffs will become saints on Divine Mercy Sunday, and the ceremony should draw crowds greater than one million to the Vatican. John XXIII is depicted in a painting from a museum in his Italian birthplace. John Paul II is shown in a composite featuring an image of him by Polish photographer Grzegorz Galazka.

How 2014 is shaping up at the Vatican

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VATICAN CITY - After a year that included the historic resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and a series of celebrated innovations by Pope Francis, it is hard to imagine 2014 at the Vatican could be nearly as eventful. Of course, the biggest stories are likely to be those that come by surprise, but in the meantime, here are developments bound to loom large in Vatican news over the coming year:

Rabbi Michael Melchior watches as Pope John Paul II prays at Judiasm's holiest site, the Western Wall, in Jerusalem in March 2000. Pope Francis will visit the Holy Land May 24-26.

Jerusalem's Latin patriarch hopes pope's May visit is 'cry for peace'

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AMMAN, Jordan - Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem welcomed the announcement of Pope Francis' May visit to the Holy Land and said he hopes the pilgrimage will be a "cry for peace," particularly for Palestinians, Israelis, Syrians and others beset by conflict.

Msgr. William Lynn, former secretary for clergy in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, walks from the courthouse in 2012 as the jury deliberates in his sexual abuse trial in Philadelphia. A panel of judges for a Pennsylvania Superior Court reversed the decisio n on Msgr. Lynn's conviction in handling a clerical abuse case and ordered his release from prison.

Philly priest released from prison after court reversed conviction

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PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia archdiocesan priest was released from a Pennsylvania state prison Jan. 2 after an appeals court reversed his conviction for endangering child welfare by his handling of a sex abuse case.

People carry a survivor from the rubble at a damaged site after what activists said was heavy shelling by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus Dec. 26. Many Syrian refugees found Christmas a difficult time with the ongoing violence i n their homeland.

For some Syrian Christian refugees, Christmas was not a happy time

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AMMAN, Jordan - Some Syrian Christian refugees sheltering in neighboring Jordan did not have a happy Christmas, fearful for their uncertain future as the violent conflict in their homeland grinds on past 33-months with no end in sight.

Man seriously injured after setting self on fire in St. Peter's Square

Man seriously injured after setting self on fire in St. Peter's Square

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VATICAN CITY - A 51-year-old man was severely injured after he set himself on fire in St. Peter's Square.

A bronze statue of Nelson Mandela is unveiled as part of the celebrations for South Africa's Day of Reconciliation Dec. 16 in Pretoria. The statue honors the late first president of democratic South Africa as a symbol of national reconciliation and unity.

Mandela statue fitting end to mourning period, says ex-Cabinet member

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa - The unveiling of a statue of Nelson Mandela in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, was a fitting end to 10 days of mourning for the democracy icon, said Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, a South African priest who served in Mandela's Cabinet.

Archbishop Louis Sako

Chaldean patriarch says extremism threatens Christians and Muslims

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ROME - "Extremist political Islam is growing in the Middle East," prompting Christians to flee and causing death and upheaval among Christians and moderate Muslims alike, said the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

A worshipper holds a rosary inside the Basilica of the Holy Child in Tacloban, Philippines. Filipinos begin Christmas preparations in September, but the final nine days leading to Dec. 25 have special meaning.

Fine line separates Advent, Christmas in the Philippines

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MANILA, PHILIPPINES - In the Philippines, the Christmas season starts in September, but the final nine days of Advent have special meaning.

Joseph Ogbonnaya (left), professor at Marquette University, Fr. Louis Caruana, S.J., moderator and Fr. Michael Paul Gallagher, S.J., professor at Pontifical Gregorian University speak at Therapy for Confused Cultures international conference in Rome.

Lonergan offers ‘therapy for confused cultures’

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ROME - Cultures confused about truth and allergic to all things definite can find a source of healing in the thought and method of late Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergan.

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