News/International

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.
Pope Francis eats lunch with the poor, refugees and detainees in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, Italy, Oct. 1.

Two prisoners flee during a lunch with Pope Francis

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Bologna, Italy – They were supposed to be having lunch with Pope Francis.

Children practicing for choir at a church in the U.S. Mar. 25, 2017.

'No science' behind transgender therapy for kids, doctors warn

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Children who struggle to match their gender identity with their biological sex should not be pushed into transgender therapies, but given treatments that help treat the underlying cause of the dysphoria, said doctors in the field.
Pope Francis presents the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization with a marble statue during his visit to FAO headquarters Oct. 16. It is a statue of Alan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian boy who drowned during a Mediterranean crossing in September 2015.

Hunger is not incurable, we must end war and climate change, pope says

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VATICAN CITY – It makes no sense to lament the problems of hunger and forced migration if one is unwilling to address their root causes, which are conflict and climate change, Pope Francis said.
The sun sets behind a statue of Mary on Apparition Hill in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In India, schoolkids say Virgin Mary appeared amid scent of jasmine

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Kochi, India – Both Hindu and Catholic schoolchildren in India claim to have witnessed an apparition of Christ and several appearances of the Virgin Mary accompanied by the scent of jasmine, the gift of contrition, and the healing of a girl’s ear problem.
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