News/International

SYDNEY -- In an exclusive interview prerecorded and aired at a U.S. conference, Cardinal George Pell reminded his audience how important the church in the U.S. is for world Catholicism and Western civilization.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The Zimbabwean government's crackdown on dissent terrifies people, the country's bishops said in a pastoral letter that also noted alarming levels of corruption.

WARSAW, Poland -- Catholic leaders urged dialogue and restraint in Belarus, amid violent street clashes following a contested Aug. 9 presidential election.

KNOCK, Ireland -- The Marian shrine at Knock announced Aug. 10 that in addition to postponing the popular Knock Novena and pilgrimage because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shrine and its church would be closed for the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption of Mary to ensure pilgrims do not arrive anyway.

AMMAN, Jordan -- Viewing the burned wasteland of the Beirut port, one’s eye catches a grey concrete slab in the foreground. It bears this stark message scribbled by the Lebanese in black ink: “My Government Did This.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A suspended priest in the Diocese of Sacramento has been automatically excommunicated because he continued to celebrate Mass despite being instructed not to do so by Bishop Jaime Soto, and he also has refused to acknowledge Pope Francis as head of the Catholic Church.

NAIROBI, Kenya -- The Catholic archbishop of Juba condemned "in the strongest terms possible" the murder of three young girls, killed while watching television in their Juba home.

AMMAN, Jordan -- Hospitals in the Lebanese capital are overwhelmed with those suffering injuries from a massive explosion in Beirut's port, causing widespread damage the city and rocking the tiny Mediterranean nation already devastated by the coronavirus and its worst financial crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine government issued new orders restricting movement in an effort to control a spike in COVID-19, resulting in 10 dioceses suspending public Masses.

CLEVELAND -- The path to true peace requires the world to abolish nuclear weapons, an American bishop and a Japanese archbishop said as the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings at the end of World War II approached.