News/International

Displaced Kurds stuck at a border near Derik, Syria, wait to try to cross into Iraq Oct. 21, 2019.

Syrians flee to Iraq as cease-fire set to expire

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AMMAN, Jordan -- When Rifaa, her husband and three daughters escaped into Iraq in the dead of night, "there were dead bodies on the street" in Qamishli, Syria.

Amazon synod's controversial carved figures thrown into Tiber River

Amazon synod's controversial carved figures thrown into Tiber River

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ROME, Italy (CNA) -- A video uploaded to YouTube on Oct. 21 shows two men taking several wooden figures of a nude pregnant woman from a church near the Vatican and throwing them into the Tiber River.

Demonstrators near Al-Amin mosque in Beirut carry national flags during an anti-government protest Oct. 20, 2019. Fueled by economic insecurity and deteriorating living conditions, protests were sparked by government plans to impose new taxes.

Lebanon's Catholic patriarchs support anti-government protesters

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BEIRUT -- Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese of various religions sounded their cries in unison in streets and public squares throughout the country calling for government reforms.

Benedictine Fr. Columba Stewart of St. John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minn., delivers the 2019 National Endowment for the Humanities Jefferson Lecture in Washington Oct. 7.

Cold War inspired manuscript collection

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WASHINGTON -- It was the global political tension of the Cold War that prompted the collection and copying of millions of pages of sacred manuscripts, a project now being led by Benedictine Fr. Columba Stewart at St. John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minn.

Father Gerald Matolo, the priest who first received Fr. Michael Maingi Kyengo at the Thatha Parish is seen in this 2017 file photo. Father Matolo said Father Kyengo may have been targeted by someone who thought he had money.

Catholic priest murdered in Kenya, latest in string of killings

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NAIROBI, Kenya -- A Catholic priest who disappeared from his family home was found dead in a shallow grave in southeastern Kenya a week after he was reported missing.

Smoke rises over the Syrian city of Ras al Ain Oct. 16, 2019, as seen from the Turkish border city of Ceylanpinar. Humanitarian concerns are growing as people caught in the crosshairs of the Turkish incursion into northeastern Syria try to flee for safety, and groups are scrambling to aid them.

Humanitarian groups scramble to help people fleeing northeast Syria

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AMMAN, Jordan -- Humanitarian concerns are growing as people caught in the crosshairs of the Turkish incursion into northeastern Syria try to flee for safety, and groups are scrambling to aid them.

A pro-life message is seen formed in the sky by a plane above Sydney Harbor Aug. 18, 2019.

Australia to amend religious freedom bills to consider health facilities

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SYDNEY -- The Australian government said it will make changes to religious freedom legislation concerning religious hospitals and aged-care facilities, after the Catholic Church pushed for changes to a recently released draft legislation package.

A man sprays water at the site of a car bomb blast in Qamishli, Syria, Oct. 11, 2019. Church bells have been ringing in Qamishli and elsewhere in northeastern Syria, signaling the alarm to Christians and others of the ongoing Turkish military operation having a devastating humanitarian impact on civilians.

Caritas works to help Syrians displaced by Turkish bombings

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AMMAN, Jordan -- Church bells have been ringing in Qamishli and elsewhere in northeastern Syria, signaling the alarm to Christians and others of the ongoing Turkish military operation that is having a devastating humanitarian impact on civilians.

Turkish-backed Syrian rebel fighters raise the Syrian opposition flag at the border town of Tel Abyad, Syria, Oct. 14, 2019.

Syriac Catholic patriarch pleads for peace in northeastern Syria

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ROME -- The patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church pleaded for "immediate and lasting peace in northeastern Syria and the preservation of innocent lives, especially for Christians, who are the original and founding component of Syria."

Indigenous people react during protests against Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno's austerity measures in Quito, Ecuador, Oct.11, 2019. Ecuadorian observers at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican are keeping an eye on massive protests that have claimed the lives of at least five people in their country.

Ecuador's president rolls back austerity measures that triggered protests

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ROME -- Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno met with indigenous leaders and agreed to roll back austerity measures that had sparked 10 days of protests.

Pope Francis, tweeting about the new saints he recognized Oct. 13, inadvertently used a hashtag connected to the New Orleans Saints football team. But fans appreciated it, as did the team.

Papal tweet of support for 'Saints' goes viral

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VATICAN CITY -- A hashtag mix-up caused a papal tweet meant to give thanks for the Catholic Church's newest saints to be read as Pope Francis showing support for the New Orleans Saints' football team.

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