News/International
Respect for religion is vital for peace, Pope tells Iranian leader
By Sarah Delaney, Catholic News Service![VATICAN CITY - Respect for each person's relationship with God is an essential part of building a just social order and real peace, Pope Benedict XVI said in a letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. VATICAN CITY - Respect for each person's relationship with God is an essential part of building a just social order and real peace, Pope Benedict XVI said in a letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.](/images/stories/international/international10/benedict_ahmadinejad.jpg)
"It is my profound conviction that respect for the transcendent dimension of the human person is an indispensable condition for the construction of a just social order and a stable peace," the Pope wrote to the Iranian leader.
Hygiene kits in high demand as cholera spreads in Haiti
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register![Students at St. Antoine's School are encouraged to wash their hands before lunch. Almost all the girls at St. Antoine's are living in tent camps, where health officials fear the disease will spread rapidly. Caritas Port-au-Prince is using parish volunteers to distribute leaflets and hygiene kits to 3,000 families with the help of a $123,000 grant from the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. (Photo by Michael Swan) Haiti girls food](/images/stories/international/international10/handwashing.jpg)
Caritas Haiti had exhausted its emergency stores of 76,000 hygiene kits, including aquatabs to purify water. The new hygiene kits will be distributed in 20 tent-city camps around Port-au-Pince, Haiti’s capital, where parish volunteers in the camps will be trained by medical professionals in cholera prevention.
There are more than one million Haitians still living in tents 10 months after the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed 230,000.
Five UK Anglican bishops to join Catholic Church
By Sarah Delaney, Catholic News Service![5 Bishops](/images/stories/international/international10/5bishops.jpg)
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed to reporters a statement issued Nov. 8 by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales welcoming the five bishops.
Lombardi said a “constitution” that would govern the entry of former bishops of the Anglican Communion was being studied.
Security levels for Iraqi Christians must be raised
By Catholic Register Special![Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan. (CNS photo) Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan](/images/stories/international/international10/younan.jpg)
Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan was in Canada when terrorists murdered at least 58 Sunday worshippers Oct. 31 at Baghdad’s Our Lady of Salvation Church. In an e-mail to Catholic News Service, he criticized the lax security for Christian places of worship and called on “Iraqi parties to overcome their personal and confessional interests and look for the good of the Iraqi people who have elected them.”
Pope pleads for end to savagery in Iraq
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service![Residents carry coffins during a Nov. 2 funeral at the Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq. Dozens of hostages and police were killed when security forces raided the cathedral Oct. 31 to free worshippers being held by gunmen wearing explosives. (CNS photo/Thaier al-Sudani, Reuters) Baghdad coffins](/images/stories/international/international10/baghdadcoffin2.jpg)
The Pope urged international and national authorities to work together to end the “heinous episodes of violence that continue to ravage the people of the Middle East.”
Muslim militants, dressed in khaki pants and armed with AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and suicide vests, stormed Our Lady of Salvation Church Oct. 31 while more than 100 faithful were celebrating evening Sunday Mass. The Washington Post reported that Fr. Wassem Sabeeh was among the first people executed. Another priest, Fr. Thaer Abdullah, was also killed.
Pope condemns savage attack on Baghdad cathedral
By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service![Iraqi policemen stand guard outside the Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov 1. Dozens of hostages and police were killed the day before when security forces raided the cathedral to free worshippers being held by gunmen wearing explosives. (CNS photo/Mohammed Ameen, Reuters) Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad](/images/stories/international/international10/baghdad.jpg)
The pope urged international and national authorities and all people of good will to work together to end the "heinous episodes of violence that continue to ravage the people of the Middle East."
"In a very grave attack on the Syrian Catholic cathedral of Baghdad, dozens of people were killed and injured, among them two priests and a group of faithful gathered for Sunday Mass," the pope said of the Oct. 31 incident.
Mideast peace possible, Pope says as synod ends
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service![Prelates attend the closing Mass of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 24. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) Middle East synod](/images/stories/international/international10/mideast_synod.jpg)
“Peace is possible. Peace is urgent,” the Pope said Oct. 24 during his homily at the Mass closing the two-week synod.
Peace is what will stop Christians from emigrating, he said.
Pope Benedict also urged Christians to promote respect for freedom of religion and conscience, “one of the fundamental human rights that each state should always respect.”
Pope Benedict excludes Canada from new cardinals
By Catholic Register StaffVATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI named 24 new cardinals on Wednesday but there were no Canadians on his list that included 10 Italians and two Americans.
It was widely anticipated that the Pope would name a Canadian to the body whose primary responsibility is selecting the pontiff.
Currently, Montreal archbishop Jean-Claude Turcotte is the only cardinal residing in Canada. In August, Cardinal Marc Ouellet took an important position in the Vatican. In January, former Toronto archbishop Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic of Toronto turned 80 and became ineligible to vote in papal conclaves.
Archbishop Collins tells Synod Canada open to refugees
By Carol Glatz , Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY - As the special synod for the Middle East confronts the situation of Christians in the Middle East, Canadian and American bishops, too, are part of the equation as they come to the aid of Middle East Christians in North America.
The Catholic Church in Canada has always reached out to people in need, said Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto. The archdiocese itself has been helping refugees of every ethnicity and country of origin since the 1840s, he said.
Chileans express "immense joy and thanks to God"
By Catholic News ServiceMany of the miners, who had last been above ground Aug. 5, came out of their rescue capsule making some gesture to God, kneeling in prayer, crossing themselves and voicing prayers.
![The last of the 33 miners to be rescued, Luis Urzua, who is credited with organizing the miners to ration food and save themselves, gestures next to Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, right, at the end of the rescue operation in Copiapo Oct. 13. Some of the miners could leave the hospital and go home as early as Oct. 14, officials said. (CNS photo/Alex Ibanez, Chilean Presidency handout via Reuters) Last Chilean miner](/images/stories/international/international10/lastminer.jpg)
"Their strength and hope invites us to work together as a society to 'rescue' so many brothers who suffer from poverty and marginalization, looking to make Chile 'a table for everyone,' ” the Oct. 14 statement said.
Among the thousands of people waiting at Camp Hope outside the mine in the daylong culmination of a two-month rescue effort, Bishop Gaspar Quintana Jorquera of Copiapo spent time with miners' families, sharing in celebrations with those already out of the mine and encouraging those awaiting their loved ones' return. The bishop also celebrated Mass at the camp, asking God's protection for the miners, seeking guidance for the rescue and offering thanks for all those involved in the effort.
Israeli oath draws concerns from Synod of Bishops
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service![ope Benedict XVI visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 2009. (CNS photo) Pope Western Wall](/images/stories/international/international10/pope_westernwall.jpg)
The majority of members of the Israeli cabinet voted Oct. 10 to require the loyalty oath from new, non-Jewish citizens. The Israeli parliament still has to vote on the oath.