News/International

At right, Maria Jose, a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, joins participants at a Feb. 6 prayer service outside the U.S. Capitol to pray for Dreamers and for legislators who are working to pass immigration legislation.

U.S. bishops declare national call-in day to urge Congress to save DACA

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WASHINGTON – After the Senate failed Feb. 15 to garner the 60 votes needed to move a bill forward to protect the "Dreamers," officials of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced a "National Catholic Call-In Day to Protect Dreamers" Feb. 26.
World medical body pushes back on conscience fight

World medical body pushes back on conscience fight

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The international society of Catholic doctors is using Canada as an example of what can go wrong when doctors are forced to refer for abortion.

A monk walks outside Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 2013.

Christian leaders in Jerusalem protest plan to tax church properties

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JERUSALEM – The heads and patriarchs of Christian churches in Jerusalem strongly denounced the city of Jerusalem's plan to force churches to pay property taxes.
The Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock reads two minutes to midnight. Anti-nuclear voices include the 122 nations who endorsed a United Nations treaty last July to classify nuclear weapons as illegal, indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction.

Doomsday clock ticking on nuclear threat

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Is the world moving closer to nuclear war? 

Pope Francis talks with Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, whom the Pope re-appointed to be president of the commission, which the Pope originally established in 2014.

Pope renews membership of child protection commission

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VATICAN – Pope Francis has named nine new members to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, including abuse survivors or the parents of survivors, the Vatican said.
Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq, talks about religious pluralism at Georgetown University in Washington Feb. 15.

Time to be 'honest' in dialogue with Muslims, Chaldean archbishop says

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WASHINGTON – If Christians in the Middle East are going to be "honest" with their Muslim dialogue partners, said Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq, Muslims will have to acknowledge that the persecution of Christians in the region did not start with the Islamic State's rise to power in 2014.
Head of Catholic physicians' group warns of threats to conscientious objection

Head of Catholic physicians' group warns of threats to conscientious objection

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VATICAN – No physician should be forced to choose between violating his or her conscience and facing professional sanctions when defending human life, said the president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.
Pope Francis walks near a crucifix during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Feb. 14.

Sex abuse is a great humiliation, 'shows our level of hypocrisy', Pope says to priests

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VATICAN – In a conversation with Jesuits during his recent visit to Peru, Pope Francis said he regularly meets with victims of sexual abuse on Fridays, and that while the percentage of priests who abuse is relatively low, even one is too many.
Students mourn during a Feb. 15 prayer vigil in Pompano Beach, Fla., for victims of the shootings at nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. At least 17 people were killed in the shooting. The suspect, 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz, is in custody.

Florida school shooting an act of 'horrifying evil,' says Miami archbishop

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MIAMI – Miami Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski urged community members to come together "to support one another in this time of grief" after a shooting rampage Feb. 14 at a Broward County high school left at least 17 people dead.

A member of the Somali armed forces carries her ammunition during fighting in 2017 between the military and police backed by intelligence forces in Mogadishu.

Islamic State has landed in lawless Somalia, bishop says

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NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) – As it loses its grip in the Middle East, the Islamic State is finding a foothold in Somalia, said a bishop who oversees the Catholic Church in the troubled country.
Pope Francis greets Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of Agana, Guam, during his general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Feb. 7. Archbishop Apuron has been away from Guam during a Vatican-led investigation of allegations that he sexually abused several boys, allegations he strongly disputes.

Guam archbishop under investigation for sex abuse greets Pope at general audience

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VATICAN – Waiting for a Vatican verdict on allegations that he sexually abused several boys in the 1970s, Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of Agana, Guam, attended one of Pope Francis' weekly general audiences in February.
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