News/International

AZRAQ, Jordan - This desolate dusty patch of desert near Jordan's borders with Syria and Iraq is soon to be home to the latest victims of Syria's three-year civil war.

Applications in limbo

By

Organizations that sponsor most of the refugees who come to Canada are still waiting to find out how many refugees each will be allowed to bring in this year.

Philippine cardinal praises both sides in peace deal for 'wisdom'

By

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines' newest cardinal was among 1,000 guests who witnessed the peace agreement between the government and the country's largest Muslim rebel group.

Achieve change, says abuse survivor

By

DUBLIN - The lone victim of clerical abuse nominated by Pope Francis to sit on the new Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said the commission must achieve concrete change in order to “show other survivors that the Church is going to get it right.”

African clergy join fight to save elephants and rhinos

By

NAIROBI, Kenya - The escalating slaughter of elephants and rhinos is drawing the anger of conservationist clerics, who have begun enlisting church members in the battle to save Africa’s wildlife.

Vatican accepts resignation of Germany's 'Bishop Bling'

By

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has accepted the resignation of a German bishop who was at the center of controversy over expenditures for his residence and a diocesan center.

Ugandan priest witnesses great suffering among South Sudanese refugees

By

ADJUMANI, Uganda, - It has been two months since Father Raphael Ayiga Lebu has had a good night, or a good day, of sleep.

Priest: Ukrainian Catholics flee Crimea to escape threats of arrest

By

OXFORD, England (CNS) -- Members of the Ukrainian Catholic Church are fleeing Crimea to escape threats of arrest and property seizures, a priest told Catholic News Service just four days after Russia finalized the region's annexation.

Cocaine-filled condoms intercepted en route to the Vatican

By

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A sting inside Vatican City aimed at nabbing the mystery buyer of more than $55,000 in cocaine that was hidden inside 14 condoms was foiled, leaving law enforcement officials searching for the source of a leak.

Can Pope mend relationship between Obama and U.S. bishops?

By

When President Obama and Pope Francis sit down at the Vatican on March 27, the meeting may well offer a vision of what could have been for Democrats and the Catholic Church over the last six years: a leader of the state and a leader of the Church working on the many issues where they agree while working through the issues where they don’t.

Salvadoran bishop says he expects Romero beatification in three years

By

WASHINGTON - Auxiliary Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez of San Salvador said there's strong hope and signals from the Vatican that beatification for Archbishop Oscar Romero, the man many consider a modern-day saint, will come in three years.