News/International

A file photo shows a priest hearing confession at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing. The Chinese government said that in addition to meeting health requirements after the COVID-19 outbreak, priests must "preach on patriotism" as a condition for reopening their churches.

China makes preaching patriotism compulsory to reopen churches

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BEIJING -- Catholics are upset about a directive from China's communist government asking priests to "preach on patriotism" as a condition for reopening liturgical services, suspended earlier this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pro-life supporters are seen in a 2019 file photo holding signs outside the High Court in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On June 2, 2020, politicians in Northern Ireland rejected an "extreme" new abortion law imposed on the province from Parliament in London.

Northern Ireland's Legislative Assembly rejects U.K.-imposed abortion law

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MANCHESTER, England -- Politicians in Northern Ireland rejected an "extreme" new abortion law imposed on the province from Parliament in London.

U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pose outside the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington June 2, 2020, the 41st anniversary of the beginning of the pontiff's 1979 historic visit to Poland.

Trump visits shrine on anniversary of St. John Paul II visit to Poland

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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington June 2 shortly before he was expected to sign an executive order at the White House to expand U.S. support for international religious freedom efforts.

A pro-democracy demonstrator waves the British colonial Hong Kong flag during a protest against new national security legislation in Hong Kong June 1, 2020.

Bishop urges U.K. to act to protect Hong Kong democracy agreement

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MANCHESTER, England -- An English bishop urged the U.K. government to take action against violations of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.

A Venezuelan migrant gets a free food package outside of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Bogota, Colombia, May 29, 2020. Migrants have been hit hard economically by Colombia's COVID-19 lockdown as they lose their jobs and struggle to pay rent.

Churches battle hunger in new COVID epicentre

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LIMA, Peru -- Diego Ramirez, a single father in a rural village in southern Guatemala, worked in a restaurant and kept a chicken farm, selling the birds in a market to support his three daughters.

Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, Austria, attend Pope Francis' general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in 2018. Cardinal Puljic said he received threats for celebrating a mid-May Mass for victims of a post-World War II massacre. The Mass is normally celebrated in an Austrian border town but was held in Sarajevo because of restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bosnian church official defends Mass for victims of communist massacre

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WARSAW, Poland -- Bosnian church leaders defended their decision to hold a Mass for civilians and former soldiers slaughtered by victorious communist forces in Yugoslavia, despite international condemnations and domestic protests.

A protester in Minneapolis vandalizes an O'Reilly's near the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct May 27, 2020. Two days earlier George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was pinned down by a police officer kneeling on his neck before later dying in the hospital May 25.

U.S. Bishops 'sickened' by Floyd's death, urge racism be met 'head-on'

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Catholic bishops said May 29 they "are broken-hearted, sickened and outraged to watch another video of an African American man being killed before our very eyes."

A man crosses a flooded street in Kolkata, India, May 21, 2020, after Cyclone Amphan made its landfall. Following the cyclone, incessant rain and floods have forced hundreds of thousands of people to move to safer places in eastern India's Assam state.

Rain, flooding compound problems for state in eastern India

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GUWAHATI, India -- Incessant rain and floods have forced hundreds of thousands of people to move to safer places in eastern India's Assam state, adding to the misery brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and a mid-May cyclone.

Deacon Robert Lavanco of Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church prays with Krystyna Kopacki in New York City on May 24. President Donald Trump declared places of worship “essential” May 22.

Trump pushes to open houses of worship

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WASHINGTON -- Saying America needs “more prayer, not less,” President Donald Trump has declared houses of worship “essential” and directed the country’s governors “to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now, this weekend.”

A visitor wears a mask for protection from the coronavirus while touring the Vatican Museums in this Feb. 29, 2020, file photo.

Vatican Museums to reopen June 1

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VATICAN CITY (CNA) -- The Vatican Museums announced Saturday that it will reopen on June 1, two days before Italy opens its borders to European visitors after nearly three months of lockdown.

Residents carry tin sheets salvaged from the rubble of a damaged house in a village near Kolkata, India, May 22, 2020, in the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan.

Catholic volunteers lend aid to cyclone victims in India

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BHOPAL, India -- Catholic volunteers provided food and shelter to hundreds of people in coastal eastern India after Cyclone Amphan devastated the region May 20, killing 80 people and destroying thousands of homes.

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