News/International

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, talks with Russell D. Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington July 2. The two are part of a diverse group of religious leaders urging the U.S. government to "expand conscience protections" in its Health and Human Services mandate that requires almost all employers to provide c overage of contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion-inducing drugs free of charge.

U.S. bishops, religious leaders call for religious liberty protections

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WASHINGTON - A diverse group of religious leaders, including Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals and a representative from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, issued an open letter July 2 urging the U.S. government to "expand conscience protections" in its Health and Human Services contraceptive mandate.

Pope Francis' first encyclical, Lumen fidei (The Light of Faith), will be published July 5.

Pope Francis' first encyclical to be published July 5

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' first encyclical, which he has said is largely the work of retired Pope Benedict XVI, will be published July 5.

Ernst von Freyberg, who has assumed the function of interim general director of the Vatican bank, poses in his office at the Vatican June 10. A statement from the Vatican press office said the bank's director, Paolo Cipriani, and its deputy director, Mas simo Tulli, offered their resignations July 1 "in the best interest of the institute and the Holy See."

Director, deputy director of Vatican bank resign

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VATICAN CITY - The director and the deputy director of the Vatican bank, which is being investigated by a special papal commission, resigned July 1.

A boy walks on the rubble of buildings damaged by missiles fired by Syrian air force fighter jets in Salqin, Syria. On World Refugee Day, Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, chairman of the board of U.S. Catholic Relief Services, called upon governments to stop the shipment of arms to the Syrian government and rebel troops.

Syrian refugees need stronger international support

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WASHINGTON - Syrian refugees fleeing their homeland’s civil war deserve support from the international community in the form of food, water, shelter and education, said Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, of Tucson, Ariz., chairman of the board of Catholic Relief Services.

Syrian refugees wait to receive aid and rations at the Al Zaatri refugee camp in Mafraq, Jordan.

The Church’s response to the crisis in Syria

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The last three years of sponsoring Iraqi refugees has prepared Catholic parishes and religious communities to deal with the next wave coming from the civil war in Syria, said Office for Refugees, Archdiocese of Toronto executive director Martin Mark.

A village child growing up in Malawi may grow up richer than his parents. The World Bank claims absolute poverty is on its way down in Africa.

The World Bank’s plan to help end ‘absolute poverty’

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The World Bank is promising the poor will not always be with us.

A woman carrying a child on her back climbs up a hill with other survivors during rescue operations in India’s mountainous Uttarakhand state June 23.

Church groups aid India flood relief

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THRISSUR, INDIA - Church charity groups in India joined security personnel in rescue and relief work for hundreds of thousands of people affected by flash floods and massive landslides in northeastern India’s Uttarakhand state.

People demonstrate outside the Supreme Court building in Washington in this photo from late March, when the court heard oral arguments in two same-sex marriage cases. The court ruled as unconstitutional the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, in a 5-4 decision issued June 26. In a separate case, the court sent back to lower courts a challenge to California's Proposition 8, the voter-approved initiative barring same-sex marriage.

U.S. bishops view Supreme Court's rulings as 'tragic day for marriage'

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Catholic bishops said the U.S. Supreme Court's June 26 rulings on same-sex marriage were a "tragic day for marriage and our nation."

U.S. President Barack Obama pauses and wipes his forehead as he talks about his vision to reduce carbon pollution June 25 during a speech at Georgetown University in Washington.

Environment advocates consider Obama climate plan a good step forward

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WASHINGTON - Catholics working for environmental justice welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to address climate change, saying it is an ambitious proposal that deserves watching to ensure that it is carried out.

Syrian priest killed during rebel attack on Franciscan convent

Syrian priest killed during rebel attack on Franciscan convent

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VATICAN CITY - A 49-year-old Syrian priest and hermit was killed June 23, apparently when a group of rebels attacked the Franciscan Convent of St. Anthony in Ghassanieh, a village in the north near the Turkish border.

Giovanni Palatucci

Historian: Research could 'downsize' potential saint's wartime heroism

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VATICAN CITY - New research on an Italian candidate for sainthood may "downsize" his importance in saving Jews from the Nazis, but cannot "transform him from a savior of the Jews into a persecutor," said an Italian Jewish historian writing in the Vatican newspaper.

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