NEWS

Chimal and Wendy exchange jokes as they knead a batch of English muffins at Toronto’s St. John’s Bakery.

St. John’s Bakery revives an Easter tradition

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TORONTO - At St. John’s Bakery, the spiced, sweet scent of freshly baked hot cross buns fills the air. The bakery revives this popular tradition every year in anticipation of the joy of Jesus’ resurrection. But more than preparing an Easter treat, the hands that make the hot cross buns are symbols of hope and community.

Demonstrators rally at Monument Circle in Indianapolis March 28 to protest a religious freedom bill signed in to law by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. More than 2,000 people gathered at the state Capitol to protest Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act b ecause they say it would promote discrimination against individuals based on sexual orientation.

Indiana bishops call for 'mutual respect' in 'necessary dialogue' on RFRA

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INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana's Catholic bishops April 1 urged people to show mutual respect for one another and allow "the necessary dialogue" to take place to make sure no one in the state will face discrimination, "whether it is for their sexual orientation or for living their religious beliefs."

Nigerians are seen packed in a van fleeing Mubi, Nigeria, following attacks in 2014. Nigeria's bishops criticized Boko Haram insurgents' use of children to commit crimes such as suicide bombings.

Holy See calls for international effort to end Boko Haram insurgency

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GENEVA - The Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations in Geneva called on the international community to assist Nigeria and neighbouring countries to rid the region of Boko Haram insurgency.

Supporters of presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) party celebrate in Kano on Tuesday (March 31, 2015). Three decades after seizing power in a military coup, Buhari became the first Nigerian to oust a president through the ballot box, putting him in charge of Africa’s biggest economy and one of its most turbulent democracies.

Can a Muslim president defeat Boko Haram? Nigerians are betting on it

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A northern Nigeria Muslim leader who promised to pursue a nonreligious agenda as president will now have to deal with an Islamic terrorist insurgency that has wreaked chaos in the country’s north.

US Navy F-18E Super Hornets make a formation over northern Iraq before striking Islamic State targets in Syria. Canada is set to join in airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria.

Syria mission a humanitarian necessity: Chaldean eparch

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OTTAWA - The Chaldean Catholic Eparch of Canada says Canadian military intervention against the Islamic State is a humanitarian necessity to protect defenceless people in Iraq and Syria.

Sister Helen Prejean, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille and death penalty abolition advocate, signed a statement with other Christian leaders to urge governors, prosecutors and judges to end the death penalty.

Christian leaders call for end to 'profound evil' of the death penalty

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WASHINGTON - Hundreds of Christian religious leaders of various churches signed onto a Holy Week call to end the death penalty in the United States.

Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim religious leaders meet for an interfaith summit in Bkerke, Lebanon, March 30. They 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.

Lebanon's religious leaders affirm Christianity's role in Middle East

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BEIRUT - 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 are seen in Zaatari Camp in Jordan March 29.

Syrian refugees in Jordan cling to hope for peace so they can go home

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ZAATARI CAMP, Jordan - Abu Bilal, a slender man in his 40s, is surrounded by cages of bright yellow canaries merrily twittering.

John Dalla Costa and Fr. Chris Valka hope to continue the parish’s reflection on ecology beyond the Lenten season.

St. Basil’s parish reflects on environmental impact

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TORONTO - Construction has become the soundtrack of daily life at St. Basil’s parish.

Fr. Jesus Alberto Franco wears two bracelets as reminders of the marginalized Colombian people.

Priest advocates for peace in Colombia

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Nobody has shot at Fr. Jesus Alberto Franco since Feb. 13, 2013. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the situation in Colombia is getting better.

A lab director inspects the microinjection of sperm into an egg cell using a microscope in this July 2011 photo at an in vitro fertilization clinic.

In vitro moms pressured to abort some fetuses

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GATINEAU, QUE. - Women who achieve multiple pregnancies through in vitro fertilization are increasingly being pressured to abort all but one of the babies, a conference on life and family was told.

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