International News

News from outside of Canada.

Ethnic minorities in Myanmar struggle on many fronts, U.S. bishop says

August 7, 2015

WASHINGTON - Displaced members of Myanmar's Kachin ethnic minority are struggling with being away from their homes and the limited services available in a Catholic-run camp near the Myanmar-China border, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration.

French, British bishops urge solution to migrant crisis in channel port

August 7, 2015

OXFORD, England - French and British Catholic bishops urged their governments to settle a growing refugee crisis around the port of Calais, where highways have been blocked and migrants from Africa and the Middle East have died attempting illegal crossings of the Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel.

U.S. bishop in Japan: American bishops will push for nuclear disarmament

August 6, 2015

HIROSHIMA, Japan - For a long minute on a sunny morning, silence fell over the memorial park that commemorates the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of the city.

Pope condemns world's silence on Iraqi refugees

August 6, 2015

VATICAN CITY - The world continues to be silent in the face of widespread persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, Pope Francis said.

Knights of Columbus convention opens with 'Life and Liberty' as theme

August 6, 2015

PHILADELPHIA - Approximately 2,000 members of the Knights of Columbus from around the country and abroad gathered Aug. 4 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia to open the Catholic fraternal organization's 133rd Supreme Convention.

After small explosion, New Mexico bishop urges 'increased vigilance' at parishes

August 5, 2015

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces has asked pastors, deacons and parish leaders in the diocese "to exercise increased vigilance in our parish surroundings and activities."

First Chinese bishop ordained publicly since 2012

August 5, 2015

HONG KONG - When Fr. Joseph Zhang Yinlin was ordained coadjutor bishop of Anyang Diocese, he became the first publicly ordained Chinese bishop in three years and the first since the Vatican and China restarted its dialogue in June 2014.

Ambassador expects Pope to challenge Americans to live nation’s ideals

August 4, 2015

VATICAN CITY - The U.S. ambassador to the Holy See believes Pope Francis is not traveling to the United States in September to scold anyone, but to challenge the country's people to live up to their ideals.

U.S. cardinal urges senators to back measure to defund Planned Parenthood

August 4, 2015

WASHINGTON - The head of the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee Aug. 3 urged U.S. senators to take the federal money that goes to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and instead fund women's health care providers that do not promote abortion.

Judge sides with L.A. archbishop on contested convent sale, Katy Perry’s offer in limbo

August 4, 2015

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County Superior Court James Chalfant ruled July 30 that the contested sale of the former convent of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to restaurateur and urban developer Dana Hollister is invalid. At the time of the unauthorized transaction, the archdiocese had already accepted an alternate offer from pop star Katy Perry, supported by three of the five sisters.