News/International

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Meriam Ibrahim, a Catholic woman originally sentenced to death for marrying a Christian, was released from prison June 23, but apprehended again the next day at the Khartoum airport with her husband, who is a U.S. citizen, and their two children, her lawyer said.

Malaysian court upholds ruling that Catholic paper may not use 'Allah'

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's highest court upheld a lower-court ruling that a Catholic newspaper may not use the word "Allah" to refer to God in its Malay-language edition.

Sudanese Catholic woman convicted of apostasy is released from prison

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KHARTOUM, Sudan - Meriam Ibrahim, 26, a Catholic woman convicted of apostasy for marrying a Christian, was released from prison June 23, her lawyer said.

Canadian cardinal assumes his titular parish in Rome

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ROME - Canada’s newest cardinal took possession of his titular parish in Rome June 22, celebrating the feast of Corpus Domini with Italian parishioners and members of the Canadian community in Rome.

Maronite bishops: Mideast turmoil threatens to change regional map

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BEIRUT - Maronite Catholic bishops expressed their concern about the war in Syria and Iraq and warned that Lebanon's presidential vacuum poses a dangerous risk to the country, particularly amid the escalating regional turmoil that they said threatens to change the map of the Middle East.

Catholic Register honoured with 10 awards by Catholic Press Association

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Catholic Register writers and editors were honoured with 10 awards, including three first-place prizes, at a gala banquet held June 20 to recognize excellence in Catholic journalism.

Order of Malta hospital central to Bethlehem’s faith community

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BETHLEHEM - Hospitals are mostly in the habit of receiving patients. In Bethlehem, Holy Family Hospital also receives pilgrims.

Italian women seek freedom to marry the priests they love

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ROME  - Anna Ferretti has been married for more than 40 years, and she and her husband are the proud parents of four children. There’s only one catch: Her husband is a Catholic priest.

Diplomacy, not force, needed to resolve Iraq crisis

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WASHINGTON - Saying the United States has a special responsibility to the people of Iraq, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace called for diplomatic measures rather than a military response to the crisis facing the country.

Refugees in Jordan say they never thought they would have to leave home

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AMMAN, Jordan - Desperate to reunite with family in Europe, a young Syrian refugee recently paid thousands of dollars to a human trafficker to help him and his brother travel abroad. Instead, the pair found themselves tricked, half-way on the opposite side of the world — in China.

San Francisco archbishop defends decision to join rally against gay marriage

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Religion News Service - The U.S. Catholic bishops’ point man on opposing same-sex marriage defended his decision to take part in today's March for Marriage in Washington, saying support for traditional man-woman marriage is not “anti-LGBT … anti-anyone or anti-anything.”