News/International

Jesuit Father Carlos Riudavets Montes, who was found murdered in the boarding school where he lived, was buried Aug. 12 in Chiriaco, in the Apostolic Vicariate of Jaen in Peru's northern Amazon region. He is pictured in an undated photo.

Suspect linked to murder of Jesuit priest in Peru arrested

By
LIMA, Peru – The Peruvian National Police arrested a suspect in connection with the death of Jesuit Father Carlos Riudavets.
Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, leaves the opening session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 6, 2014. Cardinal Stella said the current abuse crisis facing the church would not have been so grave if laity were more involved in the formation of priests.

Laity must have role in formation of priests, fighting clericalism, Vatican official says

By
VATICAN – Clericalism has led to a distorted view of authority that has contributed to the problems of sexual abuse and the abuse of power and conscience affecting the Catholic Church, said the head of the Vatican's clergy office.
A displaced ethnic Kachin family is seen in early May at a temporary camp on the grounds of a Catholic church in Myitkyina, Myanmar. Myanmar's military still is persecuting ethnic Kachin, the predominant Christian group in a conflict-torn part of the country, as well as Rohingya Muslims, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon said.

Cardinal Bo condemns Myanmar military for brutality in Kachin

By
MANDALAY, Myanmar – Myanmar's military continues to persecute ethnic Kachin, the predominant Christian group in a conflict-torn part of the country, as well as Rohingya Muslims, said Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, Myanmar.
Trafficked Cambodian fishermen arrive in 2013 at Phnom Penh International Airport in Cambodia. The 30 trafficked Cambodian fishermen returned home from Indonesia with help from Indonesian authorities and International Organization for Migration.

Indonesian priest continues to confront human traffickers

By
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Fighting human trafficking has become a daily routine over the past five years for Father Chrisanctus Paschalis Saturnus, a priest in Indonesia's Pangkal-Pinang Diocese.
Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington is pictured in an undated photo. Addressing the crisis that the Catholic Church is facing following this summer's revelations of clergy sexual abuse, Cardinal Wuerl at a Sept. 2 Mass at Annunciation Parish in Washington said moving forward and purifying the church will require "wider lay engagement, more realized accountability and evident transparency."

Cardinal Wuerl addresses 'pain, confusion and disillusionment' from abuse scandal

By
WASHINGTON – Addressing the clergy abuse crisis in the church will require "wider lay engagement, more realized accountability and evident transparency," said Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl at the end of a Sept. 2 Mass in Washington.
South African snorkelers count and log the details of the plastic and other waste retrieved from the sea bed of the Indian Ocean off Millers Point on July 29 in Cape Town. The ecumenical World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is Sept. 1. Supported by both Pope Francis and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the 2018 celebration is focused on the importance of water.

Protect, pray for universal access to clean water, Pope says

By
VATICAN – Water is a gift of God that makes life possible and yet millions of people do not have access to safe drinking water, and rivers, seas and oceans continue to be polluted, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis in 2015 waves alongside Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, then the apostolic nuncio to the United States, right, outside St. Patrick in the City Church in Washington.

Vigano, spokesmen dispute facts of contested Pope meeting in Washington

By
VATICAN – Days after he called on Pope Francis to resign for allegedly ignoring sanctions placed on then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano provided his version of a meeting that, in the minds of many, changed the overall narrative of Pope Francis' visit to the United States in 2015.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, then nuncio to the United States, congratulates then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington at a gala dinner sponsored by the Pontifical Missions Societies in New York in May 2012. The archbishop has since said Cardinal McCarrick already was under sanctions at that time, including being banned from traveling and giving lectures. Oblate Father Andrew Small, center, director of the societies, said Archbishop Vigano never tried to dissuade him from honoring the cardinal at the gala.

Vigano says canonical sanctions against McCarrick were 'private'

By
ROME – Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former nuncio to the United States who called on Pope Francis to resign for allegedly lifting sanctions placed on Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, now says those "sanctions" were "private" and neither he nor now-retired Pope Benedict XVI ever was able to enforce them.
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia and Pope Francis meet with the World Meeting of Families organizing committee, volunteers and donors at Philadelphia's international airport Sept. 27, 2015.

Cancel youth synod, focus on life of bishops, Archbishop Chaput writes to Pope

By
PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is asking Pope Francis to call off the Synod of Bishops on young people this October to focus instead on the life of the bishops.
Pope Francis arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square Aug. 29 at the Vatican.

Thousands of Catholic women write open letter to Pope: 'We deserve answers now'

By
VATICAN – A group of lay Catholic women have written an open letter to Pope Francis, demanding that he answer the questions raised by the recent allegations in the letter from former U.S. nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.
Young women pray as Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass of the sixth Asian Youth Day at Haemi Castle in Haemi, South Korea, 2014.

South Korea identifies abortion as an 'immoral medical action'

By
SEOUL, South Korea – The South Korean government included abortion in a list of “immoral medical actions” earlier this month as the country’s abortion law was revised to enable authorities to suspend medical professionals for performing abortions illegally.
Page 6 of 490