News/International

Benedictine Sister Lisa Maurer, who coaches kickers and punters for The College of St. Scholastica Saints football team in Duluth, Minn., is pictured during a game in late September. Sister Lisa joined the monastery at St. Scholastica seven years ago, one year before the school established a football program.

For Benedictine Sister, coaching football about passing on mission, values

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WASHINGTON - Sr. Lisa Maurer is a Benedictine nun who lives at the St. Scholastica Monastery on the campus of the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. She works at the Benedictine Health Centre next to the monastery, serving senior members of the community. She prays, studies and ministers at local parishes.

She also happens to coach a men's football team.

Filipino fishermen secure their fishing boats during a pre-emptive evacuation in Ormoc City, Philippines on Dec. 4. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila implored churches to pray for safety and forgiveness for sins against the environment as Typhoon Hagupit headed toward the Philippines.

Manila cardinal: Seek forgiveness for not taking care of environment

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MANILA, Philippines - Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle told churches to pray for safety and forgiveness for not taking care of the environment ahead of a powerful typhoon approaching the Philippines.

Protesters, demanding justice for the death of Eric Garner, hold placards while shouting slogans Dec. 3 in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York. Thousands of protesters shouted at police and clogged streets of Manhattan, angered by a New Yor k City grand jury's decision not to charge white Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of the unarmed Garner, who was black.

N.Y. religious leaders ask that protests of jury decision be peaceful

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NEW YORK - The day after a grand jury decided it would not indict a New York police officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner on Staten Island, the New York City Commission of Religious Leaders asked that any protests arising from the matter be peaceful.

To curb the spread of Ebola, a Liberian woman washes her hands using a bottle of chlorine water in Jene Wonde, a village near the border with Sierra Leone, Nov. 9. Catholic Relief Services committed $1.5 million to its pre-existing programs in Sierra Leo ne, Liberia and Guinea, the three West African countries affected by widespread transmission of the Ebola virus. The money is being used a number of ways, including to train heath workers, ensure safe and dignified burials, and maintain local Catholic-run health care facilities.

Faith groups 'key' to fighting Ebola, says UN

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VATICAN CITY - More co-operation is needed between the international community and faith leaders in stemming the ongoing Ebola epidemic, said a joint communique issued by the United Nations and the World Council of Churches.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, retired bishop of Hong Kong, leaves the police station after surrendering to police Dec. 3. Cardinal Zen asked faithful to pray for the democracy in the city after he stayed at the police station for an hour, documenting his involvement in the Occupy Central movement.

Hong Kong cardinal surrenders to police to help end street protests

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HONG KONG - Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, retired bishop of Hong Kong, joined the civil disobedience movement organizers who surrendered to police Dec. 3, with a hope to end the present occupation campaign that has lasted more than two months.

Pope Francis greets "comfort women" as he arrives to celebrate a Mass for peace and for the reconciliation of North and South Korea at Myongdong cathedral in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 18. Pope Francis, together with leaders of world's major religions, ple dged to help eradicate human slavery and trafficking by 2020.

Pope, religious leaders pledge to work together to end slavery by 2020

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VATICAN CITY - As Pope Francis joined leaders of other churches and religions to sign a declaration pledging to work together to help end modern slavery in the world by 2020, he urged governments, businesses and all people of good will to join forces against this "crime against humanity."

Pope Francis arrives for a Divine Liturgy with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in the patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul Nov. 30. The liturgy marked the feast of St. Andrew, patron of the ecumenical patriarchate.

Pope's welcome in Turkey as chilly as the weather

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VATICAN CITY - Ankara and Istanbul were gray and cold during Pope Francis' Nov. 28-30 visit to Turkey. And the general reception, outside of the Pope's official meetings, was hardly warmer.

Pope Francis answers questions from journalists on his flight to Rome after a three-day trip to Turkey Nov. 30.

Pope urges Muslim leaders to condemn Islamic violence

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Pope Francis called on political and religious leaders across the Muslim world to condemn violence done in the name of Islam.

Pope Francis prays with Istanbul's grand mufti Rahmi Yaran during a visit to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, in Istanbul Nov. 29.

Pope prays in Istanbul mosque, rallies local Christians

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ISTANBUL - A day after hearing Turkish leaders demand the West show more respect for Islam, Pope Francis prayed alongside a Muslim cleric inside Istanbul's most famous mosque.

Chaldean Catholic Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria, poses for a photo in Dublin Nov. 25. Bishop Audo, who is the president of Caritas in Syria, has appealed to Pope Francis to use his time in Turkey to raise the issue of the ongoing supply of arms b eing sent across the Turkish border to rebel factions in northern Syria.

Syrian bishop urges Pope Francis to raise arms supply issue in Turkey

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DUBLIN -- The president of Caritas in Syria has appealed to Pope Francis to use his Nov. 28-30 trip to Turkey to raise the issue of the ongoing supply of arms being sent across the Turkish border to rebel factions in northern Syria.

Pilgrims pray by and view the body of St. Francis Xavier during an exposition of the saint in December 2004 at the Se Cathedral in Goa, India.

Goa Catholics flock to St. Francis Xavier exposition

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GOA, INDIA - Expecting more than five million pilgrims for the once-a-decade exposition of the body of St. Francis Xavier in Goa, the Catholic Church in the former Portuguese colony has worked to ensure the event is “spiritually nourishing” for the visitors.

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