News/International

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on a large screen as he addresses the Italian Parliament. Zelenskyy received a standing ovation from Italian politicians at the end of his address via video link in Rome March 22 during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy spoke on the phone with Pope Francis before addressing the parliament, thanking the Pope “for the prayers for Ukraine and peace.”

Zelenskyy speaks with Pope Francis before addressing Italian leaders

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VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis had a “very promising” conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the president addressed the Italian parliament via video link March 22, said Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See.

Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, elevates the Eucharist in the kitchen at the apostolic nunciature in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this recent photo. During the war, Kulbokas has been celebrating Mass in the kitchen because it’s a well-protected area.

Ukraine at ‘epicentre of spiritual challenge’

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VATICAN CITY -- The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not just a tragic conflict between two nations, but the centre of a spiritual battle wrought by the forces of evil that have pitted brother against brother, said the apostolic nuncio to Ukraine.

People hold a banner with a picture of French Fr. Jacques Hamel after a July 27, 2016, Mass at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The banner reads, “Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” On March 9, a French court sentenced four men in connection with the priest’s murder.

Four sentenced in 2016 killing of French priest

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A Paris court sentenced four men in connection with the 2016 killing of Fr. Jacques Hamel, giving them sentences ranging from eight years to life in prison.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk to place flowers at a monument on National Unity Day in Red Square in Moscow in this Nov. 4, 2015, file photo. A group of Orthodox theologians has issued a statement condemning Patriarch Kirill’s support of the war in Ukraine.

Churches find common cause in Ukraine

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Ukraine’s Catholic and Orthodox churches are united in common cause for the most part and standing in solidarity with victims of Russia’s attack on their country, says Canada’s former Ambassador for International Religious Freedom.

Pro-life advocates pray near the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Nov. 1, 2021, during oral arguments in a challenge to a Texas law that bans abortion after six weeks. The high court sent the law back to the Texas Supreme Court, which ruled March 11, 2022, that abortion providers cannot challenge the state over enforcement of a law that allows private citizens to sue providers.

Texas Supreme Court rules against challenge to abortion law

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WASHINGTON -- In a March 11 ruling, the Texas Supreme Court ended a challenge by abortion clinics to a state law that bans most abortions in Texas.

Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, the Vatican ambassador to the Vatican, is pictured in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 19, 2018. The Vatican called Nicaragua's expulsion of the Vatican ambassador "grave and unjustified" as the rift deepened between the Catholic Church and the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Nicaragua expels Vatican ambassador

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The Vatican called Nicaragua's expulsion of the Vatican ambassador "grave and unjustified" as the rift deepened between the Catholic Church and the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Caritas volunteers assist a Ukrainian refugee at the Caritas Hungary refugee center in Barabás, Hungary, March 10, 2022. More than 214,000 Ukrainians have fled to Hungary, according to a March 8 statistic from the U.N. Refugee Agency.

In Hungary, Ukrainian refugees find some respite from war

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BARABÁS, Hungary (CNS) -- As millions of Ukrainian refugees continue to flee the ongoing violence of Russian aggression, many have found some comfort in neighboring Hungary thanks to the efforts of Caritas.

Sisters Marietta and Xenia, sisters of the Congregation of Jesus in Ushgorod, Ukraine, distributing humanitarian aid.

Religious sisters in Ukraine relieve the pain

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A community of nuns in western Ukraine near the border to Slovakia is rallying to help people desperate to flee from the death and destruction brought on by the Russian invasion.

Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, interim president of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, talks with people during a visit to meet with Ukrainian refugees arriving at the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary, March 8, 2022.

Cardinals arrive in Ukraine, Hungary on mission of hope

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VATICAN CITY -- Two cardinals arrived at separate destinations on one mission entrusted to them by Pope Francis: to bring relief, hope and encouragement to suffering Ukrainians.

Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny.

Cardinal Michael Czerny on his travel to Ukraine

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Mine is a journey of prayer, prophecy and denunciation. I (left) Rome on March 8 to reach Budapest and I will continue by meeting refugees and displaced persons, and those who welcome and assist them. 

Yulia Tankano is pictured with her daughter, Victoria, at a "refugee hub" at a former supermarket in Przemysl, Poland, near the Urkainian border, March 3, 2022. Since Russia's invasion began Feb. 24 more than 1.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine, the U.N. refugee agency said.

Ukrainian refugees find help in Polish border towns

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PRZEMYSL, Poland -- Buses, broken suitcases, a pile of strollers and tents stuffed with donated clothing, toys, diapers, canned food, stiff cots and blankets fill the parking lot of the defunct Tesco supermarket in Przemysl.

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