News/International

U.S. golfer Jordan Spieth smiles April 12 after sinking his putt on the 18th hole to win the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia. The 21-year-old golfer attended St. Monica's Catholic School in Dallas and graduated in 2011 from Jesuit College Prep in Dallas.

Masters champion Spieth, product of Dallas Jesuit prep school, remains humble

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DALLAS - Even after becoming the toast of the sports world, golfer Jordan Spieth, a 21-year-old Dallas Jesuit graduate, remained humble and down-to-earth as he worked the crowds at Augusta, handled the media and bantered with morning and late night talk show hosts after his historic win.

A student wearing face paint walks past wooden crosses during an April 14 memorial concert in Nairobi, Kenya, for the 147 people killed in an attack on Garissa University College. Pope Francis is calling for perpetrators of extremist violence in Kenya "t o come to their senses and seek mercy."

Pope urges those guilty of brutality in Kenya to 'come to their senses'

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis mourned the deaths of all those killed in extremist and ethnic violence in Kenya, and admonished the perpetrators to "come to their senses and seek mercy."

A clergyman joins others in a "Bring Back Our Girls" gathering in Paris April 14. A year after more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped, Lagos Cardinal Anthony Olubunmi Okogie said he believed that "God will answer our prayers" for their return.

Nigeria marks one year since Boko Haram kidnapped schoolgirls

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Nigerians staged ceremonies to remember the 219 schoolgirls abducted by the militant group Boko Haram in Chibok on April 14 one year ago.

Father Souhail Khoury celebrates Easter Monday Mass at St. Mary's Church in Iqrit, Israel, April 13. The residents were expelled by the Israeli army in 1948 and have never been able to return to the village.

In destroyed Israeli village, exiled residents unite at the church

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IQRIT, Israel - For the elders of Iqrit, their biggest regret in life is not having been able to raise their children together.

Displaced Iraqi children stand in a classroom of a school used as a shelter in the city of Ramadi April 11. Educating children is the best way to help displaced Iraqi Christians recover from the traumatic experience of being chased from their homes by Is lamic State militants, said Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster after an April 11-12 visit to Irbil.

Cardinal says education is key to Iraqi refugees' recovery

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VATICAN CITY - Educating children is the best way to help displaced Iraqi Christians recover from the traumatic experience of being chased from their homes by Islamic State militants, said Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, England, after an April 11-12 visit to Irbil.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to the press April 2 in Lausanne, Switzerland, following talks with Iran about its nuclear program. Adopting a framework for Iran's nuclear program is important step toward "a peaceful resolution of serious ques tions that have been raised regarding Iran's nuclear program," said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace.

U.S. Catholic bishops back Obama on Iran, warn Congress against meddling

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The U.S. Catholic bishops have welcomed the Obama administration’s tentative agreement aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and their top spokesman on international affairs bluntly warned Congress against doing anything to undermine it.

Pope Francis is expected to visit Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay this year. In this photo, Domenico Giani, commander of the Vatican police force, keeps watch as Pope Francis arrives to celebrate Mass in Manila, Philippines Jan. 16, 2015.

Latin American officials: Pope to visit three countries July 6-12

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MEXICO CITY - Pope Francis is expected to arrive July 6 in Ecuador, starting a three-country tour of his home continent, the Associated Press reported from Quito.

Cuba's President Raul Castro shakes hands with U.S. President Barack Obama as they hold a bilateral meeting during the seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama City April 11. Obama and Castro, who shook hands at the summit, seek to restore ties between the Cold War foes.

Obama and Castro take next steps to normalize U.S.-Cuba ties

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PANAMA CITY - An hourlong meeting April 11 between U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro marked the first such personal encounter between the leaders of the two neighbouring countries since 1958.

Pope Francis looks on after greeting Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni during an April 12 Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

Turkey recalls Vatican ambassador after Pope alludes to Armenian 'genocide'

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VATICAN CITY - Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, Pope Francis said atrocities from the past have to be recognized — not hidden or denied — for true reconciliation and healing to come to the world.

A group of people head toward an outdoor meeting space used by Catholics in the Cuban countryside in this early March photo. With few places to worship, some Catholics have been using makeshift chapels or mission houses, with little more than a tin roof over them, to pray, gather for Mass or teach the catechism in places where there is no parish.

Family values, societal changes challenge Cuba's Catholic leaders

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BAYAMO, Cuba - In 2004, with the divorce rate looming around 70 percent in Cuba, the Catholic Church called for a "year of the family."

Sister Mariya Soosai, a member of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, leads a group of children March 7 in an arithmetic class in a camp for internally displaced families inside a U.N. base in Juba, South Sudan. Some 34,000 people have sought protection at the base since violence broke out in December 2013.

South Sudan church leaders push alternative peace process

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JUBA, South Sudan - Church leaders in South Sudan are trying to breathe new life into their country's stalled peace talks.

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