News/International

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden addresses the protests at the U.S. Capitol in Washington as the Congress held a joint session to certify the 2020 election results.

Biden poses issues for U.S. bishops

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With five dead, a move for impeachment and FBI agents fanned out across the U.S. to identify and arrest people who violently stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6, theologian Massimo Faggioli finds it mystifying that the U.S. bishops are treating a rosary-praying, Mass-going president-elect as their biggest political problem.

The tower of the Institute for Works of Religion, often referred to as the Vatican bank, is pictured.

Australian agency admits serious error in reporting Vatican bank transfers

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VATICAN CITY -- Australia's financial crime watchdog agency said it over-estimated by the equivalent of more than US$1.5 billion the amount of money transferred from the Vatican to Australia between 2014 and 2020.

Men stand in line near the burned migrant center "Lipa" waiting for food in Bihac, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dec. 27, 2020. More than a thousand migrants from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa were left to sleep in the cold after their camp in northwestern Bosnia burned down Dec. 23 amid a dispute among Bosnian politicians over where to house them.

Human rights organizations call for solution to Bosnian migrant crisis

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VATICAN CITY -- Human rights organizations have called on the European Union to intervene in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where over 1,000 migrants have been stranded in sub-zero temperatures awaiting relocation after their camp burned down.

Supporters of President Donald Trump gather in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Jan. 6, 2021.

Assault on U.S. Capitol shocks the world

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ROME -- The breach of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 sent shock waves around the world.

Churches stand on the hill in Jordan behind the Franciscan Chapel of St. John The Baptist at Qasr al-Yahud, on the West Bank of the Jordan River. The bullet-marked chapel was returned to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land after being closed by the Israelis in 1967 because of land mines.

Mass is back on the banks of Jordan

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QASR AL-YAHUD, West Bank -- For the first time in 54 years, a Mass will be celebrated Jan. 10, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, at St. John the Baptist Chapel on the banks of the Jordan River.

People maintain social distancing while attending Mass in the Church of Our Lady of Grace & St. Edward in London Dec. 13, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in January, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster welcomed a decision by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to keep churches in England open during the third national lockdown, while Scottish bishops protested having to close theirs again.

In British lockdown, English churches open, Scottish churches closed

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MANCHESTER, England -- An English cardinal spoke of his relief that churches in England will not close during a third national lockdown.

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in Les Mureaux Oct. 2, 2020, to present his strategy to fight separatism. The head of French bishops' conference testified Jan. 4 that while he understands the need to strengthen national security, a proposed law designed to rein in extremist militancy would place religions and religious believers under particular surveillance.

French archbishop protests proposal to rein in religious extremism

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PARIS -- The head of French bishops' conference testified to a special commission of the National Assembly that while he understands the need to strengthen national security, a proposed law designed to rein in extremist militancy would place religions and religious believers under particular surveillance.

Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk, Belarus, speaks to reporters at his cathedral after returning to Minsk Dec. 24, 2020. Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of the archbishop, who had been banned from re-entering Belarus.

Resignation of Belarusian archbishop accepted immediately by Pope Francis

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VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk, Belarus, who had been blocked from entering his homeland for four months until negotiations between the Vatican and the Belarusian authorities allowed him back in time for Christmas.

Pro-life demonstrators react after the Senate passed an abortion bill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec. 30, 2020. Abortion will be legal during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Argentina legalizes abortion during first 14 weeks of pregnancy

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MEXICO CITY -- Argentina has legalized abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, despite strong Catholic opposition and polls showing deep divisions on the issue.

Chinese national flag is pictured in a file photo in front of a Catholic church in the village of Huangtugang.

Pope ‘badly advised’ on China-Vatican deal

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DUBLIN -- The last governor of Hong Kong criticized the Vatican’s agreement with China on the appointment of bishops and said Pope Francis has been “exceptionally badly advised” in concluding the pact.

Daniela Pompei confers with Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, during a May 2019 visit to the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. The cardinal has tested positive for COVID-19 and is hospitalized.

Two Vatican cardinals test positive for COVID-19; one hospitalized

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VATICAN CITY -- Two top Vatican officials -- Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello -- have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, Italian media reported, and a Vatican source confirmed.

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