News/International

VATICAN CITY – At a luncheon that was part reunion and part progress report, Pope Francis invited 21 Syrian refugees to join him at the Vatican Aug. 11.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. State Department warned that religion-based terrorists as well as some governments across the globe are threatening the liberties of religious minorities.

RIO DE JANEIRO – Glued to the improvised screen set up on the patio of the Caritas house, the refugees yelled and they cried. But most of all, they cheered. They cheered for their two Congolese colleagues, Popole Misenga, 24, and Yolande Mabika, 28, who were competing in judo as part of the United Nations' Refugee Olympic team.

WASHINGTON – Rosaline Costa heard people tell her "be careful" so often she decided that she had to flee her native Bangladesh for the United States to stay alive.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis "snuck" out of the Vatican Aug. 9 for a drive, a walk in the woods and lunch with an Italian bishop at a small convent.

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Catholic leaders say they are powerless to stop a growing number of extrajudicial killings that have come with President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

RIO DE JANEIRO – A Brazilian priest mentioned in Spotlight, the Oscar-winning film about clergy sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston, committed suicide Aug. 7 in his cell.

AINKAWA, Iraq – Iraqi Christians appear divided about whether they will be able to return home after Islamic State militants are flushed out of the battle-scarred Ninevah Plains region. They say their safety must be guaranteed at all costs.

DUBLIN – Bishop Edward Daly of Derry, known for his tireless advocacy for peace and reconciliation during decades of sectarian tension in Northern Ireland, died in a hospital in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Aug. 8.

MEXICO CITY – A priest in the Mexican state of Puebla said parish and archdiocesan officials are attempting to assess the needs of isolated and impoverished pockets of eastern Mexico, which were hit hard with heavy rains and mudslides, leaving at least 40 dead and dozens of settlements incommunicado.