News/International

Father Carlos Francis Mendez, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Las Marias, Puerto Rico, comforts a girl at her home Oct. 24 in a remote area outside the town. Father Mendez, and parishioners distributed relief goods to their home and others in the poor area who were affected by Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico recovery effort shows 'a church that walks with the poor'

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LAS MARIAS, Puerto Rico – By joining forces to create coalitions on behalf of those who are suffering in the wake of Hurricane Maria, the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico has been fulfilling Pope Francis' expressed wish to see "a church that walks with the poor."
Sister Josephine Muthoni Kwenga listens to residents of Nairobi's Kibera slum ask questions about the Kenyan voting process during a voter education forum Oct. 13.

Kenyan nuns work to educate voters before Oct. 26 election

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NAIROBI, Kenya – When Kenyans go to the polls to elect a president Oct. 26, nuns from the Association of Sisterhoods of Kenya will be prominent as poll observers. The sisters already have spent hours in voter education for the repeat election, set up after the nation's Supreme Court nullified an August vote. 
A Rohingya refugee carries his son and belongings into Teknaf, Bangladesh, Oct. 25. The majority of the 600,000 refugees fleeing a military crackdown in Myanmar over the past two months have gone to Bangladesh, but some have traveled into India and Nepal.

Bishops fear any mention of Rohingya by Pope will bring 'chaos'

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YANGON, MYANMAR – When Pope Francis visits Myanmar in late November, Church leaders will be listening nervously to his every word, specifically hoping they don’t hear the R-word.
Rosaries are seen Sept. 20 at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum near Stevenson, Wash., in Skamania County. The center's collection of rosaries has been verified as the largest in the world.

Small museum in Pacific Northwest has world's largest rosary collection

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STEVENSON, WASHINGTON – Travelers who happen upon a regional museum in Washington state are frequently surprised to find there the largest collection of rosaries in the world – according to no less an authority than "Ripley's Believe It or Not."

Sister Kathleen Schipani, director of the office for persons with disabilities and the deaf apostolate at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, has designed an app to teach religious terms in American Sign Language. The app will be available Nov. 1.

New app teaches blessings, how to pray in American Sign Language

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VATICAN – When Sister Kathleen Schipani found out she was usually the very first person to teach deaf children to pray, she decided there had to be an app to fix that.
People pray during Mass in 2016 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing. A Chinese communist party official indicated July 19 that Beijing intends to retain tight grip on the Catholic Church.

Report: Global persecution of Christians at historic high

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New York City, N.Y. - Anti-Christian persecution is “worse than at any time in history” and in many cases genocide and other crimes against humanity “now mean that the Church in core countries and regions faces the possibility of imminent wipe-out,” says a new report from Aid to the Church in Need.
A cross-shaped monument, a landmark in Bladensburg, Md., constructed in 1925 as a memorial to 49 Prince George's County men lost in World War I, is pictured in this Oct. 19 photo.

Cross honouring soldiers who died in World War I deemed unconstitutional

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WASHINGTON – A 40-foot-tall cross memorializing soldiers who died in World War I that sits at a busy intersection in the Washington suburb of Bladensburg, Maryland, is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Oct. 18.
Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “Church institution divestments are very important. They don’t add up to trillions, but they have a very important exemplary role," Figueres said.

Moral leadership of 'Laudato Si' becoming more evident

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As more than 40 Catholic institutions announced they would no longer invest in fossil fuel companies, a former United Nations chief climate negotiator said the Pope’s environmental vision laid out in Laudato Si’ is becoming even more relevant.
Retired Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of Cebu, Philippines, pictured in a 2012 photo at the Vatican, died Oct. 18 at the age of 86 after a series of health complications.

Philippines mourns Cardinal Vidal, who leaves a legacy of service

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Cebu, Philippines – Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, the fourth Filipino cardinal and leading Catholic figure in the fall of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, died Wednesday at the age of 86.
Bishop Hubertus Leteng of Ruteng, Indonesia, center, celebrates Mass in early April in Ruteng.

Vatican asks Indonesian bishop to repay funds he allegedly stole

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RUTENG, Indonesia – The Vatican has asked Indonesian Bishop Hubertus Leteng, who recently resigned over allegations of theft and having an affair, to return the church funds he is accused of stealing.
People sit at an outdoor chapel on the property of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in Columbia, Pa,. in early July. The chapel was built by Lancaster Against Pipelines in cooperation with the congregation as a symbol to block the Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline, which opponents say would desecrate God's creation.

Protesters arrested for blocking pipeline work through nun's property

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WASHINGTON – Nearly two dozen people, including a juvenile, were arrested as they blocked workers from starting construction of a short leg of a natural gas pipeline on property owned by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ congregation in Columbia, Pennsylvania.
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