News/International

Iraqi soldiers evacuate families from Ramadi, Iraq, Feb. 3, after the city was recently recaptured by Iraqi forces. A European bishops' commission has welcomed a move by the European Parliament to classify atrocities and religious cleansing by the Islamic State as genocide.

European bishops welcome EU classification of Islamic State 'genocide'

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MANCHESTER, England - A European bishops' commission has welcomed a move by the European Parliament to classify atrocities and religious cleansing by the Islamic State as genocide.

A health worker carries out fumigation as part of preventive measures against the Zika virus and other mosquito-born diseases at a cemetery on the outskirts of Lima, Peru.

Honduran cardinal warns against abortion for Zika fetuses

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Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, a top adviser to Pope Francis, has denounced the idea of “therapeutic abortions” — which are carried out because of fetal abnormalities — as a response to birth defects caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus that is setting off alarms throughout Latin America.

Obama pleads for tolerance in first visit to U.S. mosque

Obama pleads for tolerance in first visit to U.S. mosque

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CATONSVILLE, Md. - In times of rising Islamophobia, U.S. President Barack Obama made a plea for religious tolerance during his first presidential visit to an American mosque.

Syrian refugees wait at the border Jan. 13 near Royashed, Jordan. As a donors conference to stem the Syrian refugee crisis opens in London, Syria's neighbors, which have hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees for the past five years, say they cannot continue to bear the brunt of the burden.

Jordan says it cannot continue to bear brunt of Syrian refugee crisis

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AL-KHALDIYA, Jordan - As a donors conference to stem the Syrian refugee crisis opens in London, Syria's neighbors, which have hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees for the past five years, say they cannot continue to bear the brunt of the burden.

A man crosses a police cordon during a protest against the government and the electoral process Jan. 29 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Haiti's Catholic bishops urged political leaders to reach a negotiated solution to the country's looming political crisis as President Michel Martelly's term ends Feb. 7 and elections to find a successor have been indefinitely delayed.

Haitian bishops call for quick, negotiated solution to pending political crisis

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Haiti's Catholic bishops urged political leaders to reach a negotiated solution to the country's looming political crisis as President Michel Martelly's term ends Feb. 7 and elections to find a successor have been indefinitely delayed.

A pregnant woman waits to be seen Jan. 29 at the Women's National Hospital in San Salvador, El Salvador. Health officials have urged women to postpone their pregnancies for two years, because the Zika virus can produce microcephaly, a rare neurological condition that causes smaller heads in newborns, affecting the normal development of their brain.

Salvadoran priests: Government can't tell women when to get pregnant

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SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - The Salvadoran bishops have made no comment on a government recommendation to women to delay pregnancy because of the Zika virus, and priests contacted by Catholic News Service gave varied responses on their reaction.

The dome of St. Peter's Basilica is seen in the distance as people attend the Family Day rally at the Circus Maximus in Rome Jan. 30. The rally was held to oppose a bill in the Italian Senate that would allow civil unions for homosexual and heterosexual couples.

Italy: 'Family Day' rally draws hundreds of thousands

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ROME - Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Rome's Circus Maximus to protest against a proposed bill that would grant legal recognition to nonmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples and give them the right to adopt children.

Covering nude statues in Rome for Iran head draws Catholic leader’s scorn

Covering nude statues in Rome for Iran head draws Catholic leader’s scorn

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ROME - Controversy over Italy’s decision to cover nude statues during the visit of Iran’s president continued to spark debate as the leader of the Syrian Catholic Church criticized the episode, saying it pains persecuted Christians in Syria who feel forgotten.

People are silhouetted against the Cologne Cathedral in Germany Jan. 25. Catholic bishops in Germany and Austria urged their countries to continue accepting refugees, despite demands for new restrictions after New Year's Eve violence in Cologne and other cities.

Germany, Austrian bishops say keep doors open to refugees

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BERLIN - Catholic bishops in Germany and Austria have urged their countries to continue accepting refugees, despite demands for new restrictions after New Year's Eve violence in Cologne and other cities.

A man comforts David Daleiden, founder of the Center for Medical Progress, during a prayer and protest rally outside of the new Planned Parenthood building in Washington Jan. 21, the day before the annual March For Life. Daleiden's organization is being sued by the National Abortion Federation over a series of undercover videos on Planned Parenthood.

Pro-life law firm defends California centre in Planned Parenthood suit

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LOS ANGELES - A Chicago-based law firm known for supporting pro-life causes will defend the Centre for Medical Progress in a federal racketeering lawsuit filed Jan. 14 by Planned Parenthood against the centre.

U.N. peacekeepers patrol the street leading

Bishop warns Lord’s Resistance Army re-emerging in Central African Republic

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A senior Roman Catholic bishop in the Central African Republic is warning that the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel force that killed more than 100,000 people in northern Uganda in the 1980s and ’90s, is rising up again in his country.

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