NEWS

OTTAWA - Representatives of four groups that advocate for disabled Canadians have written Canada’s justice minister urging him to fight against any attempts to decriminalize euthanasia.

VATICAN CITY - Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran leaders in Jerusalem prayed for an end to violence and bloodshed in Egypt and the protection of the values of "democracy, dignity and religious freedom."

VATICAN CITY - Rushed judgments in times of war and conflict, especially by the media, do not always lead to the truth and will not bring peace, said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican observer at U.N. agencies in Geneva, including the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican ambassador to Syria said the international community must help find a political solution to the "serious crisis" continuing in the country.

MANILA, Philippines - Teams of relief workers visited evacuation centers and Catholic parishes-turned-shelters across a wide area of the Philippine capital as they began assessing the needs of thousands of people who fled homes inundated by floodwaters.

VATICAN CITY - A Catholic bishop in Luxor, about 400 miles south of Cairo, said Muslims and Christians are afraid to leave their homes; because the shops are closed and no one is venturing outside, many are running out of food.

CAIRO - Attacks on Christian churches and institutions in Egypt appeared to be the result of Islamist extremists' anger over what they perceived as Christian support for the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi.

VATICAN CITY - Speaking on behalf of Catholics in Egypt, Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak said the violence and unrest in his country are "not a political struggle between different factions, but a war against terrorism."

CAIRO - Here is the English text of the Aug. 18 statement by Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak on recent events in Egypt.

WASHINGTON - The bankruptcy of Detroit does not mean the city is dead, said Archbishop Allen Vigneron.