International News

News from outside of Canada.

Kenyan bishops pray for families of soldiers killed in al-Shabab attack

January 26, 2016

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya's bishops offered condolences to military families "who lost their loved ones" during an al-Shabab attack on Kenyan soldiers stationed in Somalia.

Russian pressure forces historic Orthodox summit to meet in Crete

January 25, 2016

PARIS - The first major council of the world’s Eastern Orthodox churches in over 1,200 years will take place in Crete after the influential Russian Orthodox Church said political tensions between Moscow and Ankara ruled out holding it in Turkey.

Muslim leaders plan summit on protecting non-Muslims in their midst

January 22, 2016

Hundreds of Muslim scholars will meet in Morocco next week to reassert the rights of non-Muslims living among them as Christians and other religious minorities flee extremism across the Middle East for safety and freedom elsewhere.

After his death, Muslim Kenyan who shielded Christians hailed as hero

January 20, 2016

NAIROBI, Kenya - A Muslim man who shielded Christians after a passenger bus was ambushed by suspected al-Shabab militants is being saluted as a symbol of unity.

Religious groups focus on Flint’s water woes

January 20, 2016

Catholic Charities is giving out water and food. The Flint Jewish Federation is collecting water and water filters. And the Michigan Muslim Community Council has distributed more than 120,000 bottles of clean water for Flint, Mich.

Refugees in Lebanon plead with USCCB representatives for help in resettling

January 19, 2016

BEIRUT - Myrna calmly begins describing the challenges she faces as a Syrian refugee in Lebanon, but soon breaks down in tears over the enormous problems that have upset her family life: her husband has no work and her 7-year-old son with a heart condition now wets in his sleep because of stress. Some days the family goes without eating.

Church leaders condemn new vandalism at two Christian sites in Jerusalem

January 19, 2016

JERUSALEM - One week after a Christian cemetery was desecrated outside of Jerusalem, two more Christian sites were vandalized in the city.

Slain Pakistani Christian’s brother campaigns against blasphemy law

January 16, 2016

ROME - Paul Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, worked as a surgeon in his home country of Pakistan and in Europe, while his brother, Shahbaz, went into politics and became Pakistan’s only Christian Cabinet member as the country’s first minister of minority affairs.

Episcopal Church suspended from Anglican Communion

January 15, 2016

The Anglican Communion voted to censure its American branch, the Episcopal Church, during a meeting in Canterbury, England, called to reflect on the future of the communion.

2015 was ‘worst year’ for Christian persecution, says Open Doors

January 14, 2016

WASHINGTON - With North Korea leading the way and Islamic extremism rapidly expanding, 2015 was the “worst year in modern history for Christian persecution,” according to a group tracking this issue.