News/International

Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, former apostolic nuncio to the United States, is pictured at his residence at the Vatican in this Oct. 20, 2011, file photo. German bishops have rejected COVID-19 "conspiracy theories" by Archbishop Vigano and Cardinal Gerhard Muller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

German bishops reject COVID-19 'conspiracy theories' by prominent clergy

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BONN, Germany -- Catholic bishops have distanced themselves from a letter in which several prominent Catholic clergy warned there were attempts to use the COVID-19 pandemic to create a "world government beyond all control."

The Israeli settlement Har Homa is seen on the hillside overlooking houses in Bethlehem in the valley in the West Bank, in this Dec. 3, 2019, photo. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Church leaders oppose Israeli plans to annex West Bank

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JERUSALEM -- Moving forward with an Israeli plan to unilaterally annex West Bank land could mean the end to the already languishing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, said the heads of the Holy Land churches.

A priest wearing a protective face mask gives holy Communion to a man May 1, 2020, in a Catholic church in Kevelaer, Germany, during the first public Mass in the city since churches were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Churches in Europe reopening with restrictions

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ROME -- With a number of countries in Europe slowly easing restrictions as part of a long-term strategy for containing the spread of the coronavirus, churches, too, are seeing changes in what is or will be allowed.

George Cardinal Pell

Australian commission publishes redacted report sections on Cardinal Pell

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VALLA BEACH, Australia -- The Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse published redacted sections of its 2017 report, and new findings said it did not believe some of the testimony given to it by Cardinal George Pell.

Donald Trump and New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan share a laugh during the 71st annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York City in 2016.

Dolan blasted for Trump comments

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CLEVELAND -- Laudatory comments about President Donald Trump by New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan have been blasted in a letter to the prelate from more than 1,500 faith leaders.

Members of the Our Lady of the Spring Devotee Association celebrate in 2013 the 60th anniversary of the supposed apparitions of Mary in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico in 1953. A recent bishops' commission says supposed Marian apparitions of Our Lady of America said to have taken place more than six decades ago are not recognized by the Catholic Church and are not appropriate for public devotion.

Our Lady of America apparitions declared "not supernatural"

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WASHINGTON -- Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, and five other bishops have concluded that alleged apparitions of Our Lady of America -- said to have taken place more than six decades ago -- were not of supernatural origin.

A choir singer gives a solo performance in an empty church during a Mass via livestream in San Fiorano, Italy, May 6, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public allowed, with restrictions, for Mass in Italy starting mid-May

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ROME -- The Italian bishops and government have agreed on a protocol to allow the public to be present for liturgical celebrations starting May 18.

Father Xavier Thelakkat, rector of the shrine of St. Thomas in Malayattoor, India, pictured in a 2012 photo, was stabbed to death in 2018. An Indian court sentenced former sacristan Johny Vattaparamban, 54, to life imprisonment for the murder of Father Thelakkat in southern Kerala state.

Sacristan sentenced to life in prison for murder of Indian shrine rector

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COCHIN, India -- An Indian court sentenced former sacristan Johny Vattaparamban, 54, to life imprisonment for the 2018 murder of the rector of popular St. Thomas Shrine at Malayattoor, in southern Kerala state.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI, pictured in a 2010 file photo, celebrated his 93rd birthday April 16, 2020. In a newly published biography, Pope Benedict said the Catholic Church is threatened by a "worldwide dictatorship of seemingly humanist ideologies." He cited same-sex marriage, abortion and the "creation of humans in the laboratory" as examples.

In new biography, Pope Benedict says world threatened by humanism

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MUNICH -- In a newly published biography, Retired Pope Benedict XVI said the Catholic Church is threatened by a "worldwide dictatorship of seemingly humanist ideologies." He cited same-sex marriage, abortion and the "creation of humans in the laboratory" as examples.

Pope Pius XII is pictured at the Vatican in a file photo dated March 15, 1949.

Polish historian questions German researcher's claims about wartime pope

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OXFORD, England -- A top Polish historian has questioned claims by German researchers that newly opened Vatican archives contain information damning the role played by Pope Pius XII during World War II.

A priest blesses the coffin of a woman who died from COVID-19 in Seriate, Italy, March 28, 2020.

Italian government issues rules for funerals as lockdown eases

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ROME -- While the Italian bishops and government officials continue negotiating a way to resume the public celebration of Masses, the government provided guidelines that permit the celebration of funerals beginning May 4.

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