Nicaraguan bishop receives 26-year prison sentence
Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa was convicted and sentenced by a Nicaraguan court to 26 years in prison Feb. 10 — barely a day after the outspoken prelate defied President Daniel Ortega by refusing to go into exile.
Following a rampage of a radical Jewish gang in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City on the evening of Jan. 26, the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land called on political and religious authorities to bring civil and religious life in Jerusalem back to "greater serenity.
Deadly violence hit Christians in Africa Jan. 15, with a Catholic priest in northern Nigeria burned to death and as many as 17 Christians killed in a blast in eastern Congo.
Eritrean authorities detain Catholic bishop with no explanation
Eritrean authorities are continuing to detain Catholic Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim of Segheneity, who was arrested at the Asmara International Airport Oct. 15.
Cardinal Zen's trial adjourned before defense can call witnesses
After only two days, the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court adjourned the trial of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, 90, and four co-defendants, until Oct. 26.
Eritrean government seizes church-owned technical school
An agricultural technical school in Eritrea is the latest to fall under government control, in a string of forced seizures of Catholic schools and hospitals.
Catholics in Nicaragua are calling for the release of two priests detained over the past two months as a campaign of arbitrary arrests and church repression continues in the Central American country.
U.S. bishops decry attacks on pro-life centres
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore pleaded for peace in light of recent attacks on pro-life pregnancy centres in the United States.
Nigeria slaughter hits home for African-Canadians
With 22 dead and about 50 people injured in a Pentecost Sunday massacre in a Catholic church in northwestern Nigeria, African Catholics in Canada are left shaking their heads and praying for peace.
Pope Francis saddened by Pentecost attack in Nigeria
Pope Francis expressed his solidarity and closeness with Catholics in Nigeria after gunmen stormed a church and reportedly killed at least 50 people during a Pentecost Mass.
LAGOS, Nigeria -- Condemning the actions of gunmen who attacked a Catholic Church as parishioners gathered for Mass on the feast of Pentecost, Nigeria's Catholic bishops lamented that nowhere is safe in the country after the incident left dozens of people dead.
Soldiers storm Myanmar cathedral
Nearly 100 soldiers stormed the Sacred Heart Cathedral compound in Mandalay and forcibly entered the cathedral, archbishop's house, parish priest's residence and clergy center April 8.
While visiting with a Catholic bishop in Egypt more than 15 years ago, Marie-Claude Lalonde, national director of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), recalls a moment when a call came in that a young Christian woman had been kidnapped.
Pakistani ministers gunned down in brazen attack
LAHORE, Pakistan -- The daylight attack by motorcycle-riding gunmen on two Church of Pakistan ministers, killing one and wounding another, has reignited fears among Pakistan’s beleaguered minority community.
Vatican pays tribute to 22 church workers murdered in 2021
VATICAN CITY -- In situations of extreme poverty, war or civil tensions, 22 Catholic church workers were murdered in 2021, according to Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.