News/International

VATICAN CITY - Picking up the telephone and calling people out of the blue is no big deal for Pope Francis, according to a Vatican official.

VATICAN CITY - A veteran diplomat, the Vatican's new secretary of state, plans to put the church's vast global diplomatic network into high gear as champions for peace.

VATICAN CITY - When Pope Benedict XVI visited ground zero in 2008, he knelt alone and prayed inside the cement-walled crater where the World Trade Center once stood.

ISTANBUL - Tanil Kahiaian, a refugee from the Syrian city of Aleppo, said he is doing what he can for the others fleeing his country. He, his wife and two children escaped the Syrian war almost a year ago, and since he has watched "tens of thousands" pour into neighboring Turkey as he did.

TORONTO - While the Syrian refugee crisis grows, Toronto parishes continue to welcome Iraqi refugees. The archdiocese of Toronto’s Office for Refugees is expecting between 60 and 70 Iraqis to land here over the course of September.

TORONTO - As U.S. President Barack Obama and Western allies continue to debate whether military action is the answer to Syria’s Aug. 21 chemical weapon use on its own citizens, Christian observers are uniformly warning of grave consequences and urging more diplomacy.

VATICAN CITY - In an open letter to Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis has appealed to the Russian President and world leaders gathering in St. Petersburg for a G-20 Summit to find a non-military solution to the crisis in Syria.

BEIRUT - Lebanon's Maronite Catholic bishops warned against military intervention in neighboring Syria.

JERUSALEM - Pope Francis' appeal to pray for peace in Syria has a particular urgency for Catholics in the region, who say their countries are most likely to suffer the brunt of any attacks on Damascus.

AMMAN, Jordan - For decades, Arab Christians have been fleeing the Holy Land and the rest of the Middle East in droves, mainly because of violence.