News/International

A priest in Czestochowa, Poland, distributes Communion Aug. 15, 2018, at Jasna Gora Monastery. The percentage of Catholics in the world has remained steady, while the number of priests has decreased for the first time in almost a decade, according to Vatican statistics.

Number of priests down for the first time in a decade, Vatican says

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VATICAN – The percentage of Catholics in the world has remained steady, while the number of priests has decreased for the first time in almost a decade, according to Vatican statistics.
Cardinal Pell is pictured in a June 29, 2017, photo at the Vatican.

Cardinal Pell's appeal is fast-tracked to June, may wait three months behind bars

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SYDNEY – Australian Cardinal George Pell, the highest-ranked Catholic clergyman to be found guilty of child sexual abuse, has had his appeal process fast-tracked and might spend only three more months behind bars before it is heard.
Missionaries of Jesus sisters pose for a photo Jan. 23, 2019, in Cochin, India. They prostested the alleged rape of their former superior by a bishop.

Church leaders treat them as outcasts after going public, nuns in Indian rape case say

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COCHIN, India – As the Vatican grapples to devise stronger protocols and responses following a historic summit focused on clergy sex abuse of minors, five nuns in India complain of church repression for their support of a former superior general who was allegedly raped by a bishop.
Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, Nigeria, speaks during a forum addressing international religious freedom issues at the United Nations March 1, 2019. The event was co-sponsored by the Vatican's Permanent Observer Mission to the U.N. and the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Church works as bridge between Muslims, Christians, Nigerian archbishop says

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NEW YORK – The Catholic Church is working to bridge the divide between Muslims and Christians in a country where the divide between the groups is fraught with large and small issues, said a Nigerian archbishop.
Inmates wait to meet Pope Francis before his visit to the women's prison center in Santiago, Chile, Jan. 16.

How the Church in Chile is helping women victims of domestic violence

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SANTIAGO, Chile – The Vicariate for Social Pastoral Care of Caritas in the Archdiocese of Santiago takes in every year hundreds of women and their children, victims of domestic violence who find in their shelters comprehensive care to be able to get on with their lives.
Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes Solorzano and Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, apostolic nuncio to Nicaragua, are seen in Masaya, Nicaragua, June 21, 2018, as clashes between anti-government protesters and police continued. The Nicaraguan bishops' conference announced March 4 it has not received invitations to play a role in a recently convened national dialogue to pull the nation out of political crisis.

Nicaraguan bishops say they have not been invited to political dialogue

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MANAGUA, Nicaragua – The Nicaraguan bishops' conference said it has not received invitations to play a role in a recently convened national dialogue to pull the nation out of political crisis.
Australian Cardinal George Pell arrives at the County Court in Melbourne Feb. 26, 2019. An Australian court found Cardinal Pell guilty on five charges related to the sexual abuse of two 13-year-old boys; the verdict, reached in December, was announced Feb. 26. Sentencing is expected in early March, but the cardinal's lawyer already has announced plans to appeal the conviction.

Australian bishops respond to Pell sex abuse verdict

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MELBOURNE – Following news of Cardinal George Pell’s conviction of sexual abuse of minors, several bishops in Australia have have said they are committed to truth and justice, while declining to comment on Pell’s appeal until it has concluded.
Australian Cardinal George Pell arrives at the County Court in Melbourne Feb. 27, 2019. Cardinal Pell was jailed after being found guilty of child sexual abuse; the Vatican announced his case would be investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Cardinal Pell labelled as 'at-risk' prisoner, awaits sentence in solitary confinement

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MELBOURNE – Cardinal George Pell is incarcerated at the Melbourne Assessment Prison while he awaits the results of a sentencing hearing held last week. Pell was convicted last year of child sexual abuse.
People kneel during a Mass celebrated for terrorist victims at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Paris Nov. 15, 2015. Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, the Vatican observer to U.N. agencies in Geneva, said March 5 that violating religious freedom harms not only the individuals being persecuted, it also damages communities and often opens the door to further violence.

Religious persecution harms individuals, communities, Holy See official says

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VATICAN – Violating religious freedom harms not only the individuals being persecuted, it also damages communities and often opens the door to further violence, a Vatican representative said.
Young women walk along a street near Princess, Ghana, Nov. 23, 2018. This Ash Wednesday, March 6, marks the celebration of Ghana's 62nd anniversary of independence.

Ghana's bishops seek prayer as nation celebrates independence, Lent

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ACCRA, Ghana – This year's Lent has special significance because Ash Wednesday, March 6, marks the celebration of Ghana's 62nd anniversary of independence, said the Ghana Bishops' Conference.
A red sun is seen over a dinghy overcrowded with Syrian refugees drifting in the Aegean sea between Turkey and Greece after its motor broke down off the Greek island of Kos, August 11, 2015.

Vatican announces theme for World Day of Migrants and Refugees

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VATICAN – After moving the Vatican celebration of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees from January to September, Pope Francis wants Catholics to understand how concern for migrants and refugees is part of a much broader Christian concern for people in need.
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