International News

News from outside of Canada.

Nigerian archbishops suspend sign of peace to help prevent Ebola

August 12, 2014

LAGOS, Nigeria - In an effort to curtail the spread of Ebola, the Archdioceses of Lagos and Abuja instructed their priests to suspend all forms of physical contact during Mass, including the traditional sign of peace.

On Iraq, Pope Francis’ message of peace meets reality of war

August 11, 2014

VATICAN CITY - As he dispatches a top aide to wartorn Iraq this week, Pope Francis made his most impassioned plea yet for the world to halt the “slaughter” of Christians and other religious minorities by Islamic extremists.

Christian patriarchs denounce silence on persecution in Mideast

August 11, 2014

BEIRUT - Mideast Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs denounced the "total international silence" on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and called for Muslim religious authorities to issue fatwas, or legal edicts, banning attacks against Christians and "other innocents."

Coming together as ‘nun’

August 10, 2014

Suffering, violence and persecution have always been central to Christian experience. This is the religion that adopted the ultimate Roman instrument of torture, used to not only kill but humiliate its victims, as its central image.

Some Nigerians call for ban on hijab to prevent female suicide bombers

August 9, 2014

In northern Nigeria, mounting fears of militant female suicide bombers have raised calls to ban the hijab, or the veil that covers the head, chest and, in some cases, the entire body.

Prayer discount no longer on the menu at North Carolina diner

August 9, 2014

A Winston-Salem, N.C., diner will no longer dish out discounts along with dinner to praying customers.

Garden of Eden exhibit takes artists back to where it all began

August 9, 2014

NEW YORK - If the story of the Garden of Eden is such a common cultural reference point, what more can be said about it?

Ebola comments prompt Christian backlash against Coulter, Trump and Carson

August 8, 2014

Prominent American conservative voices are criticizing the decision to bring two medical missionaries who contracted Ebola back to the United States for treatment.

Lebanon's Maronite bishops condemn Islamist incursions

August 8, 2014

BEIRUT - Lebanon's Maronite Catholic bishops underscored their "full confidence" in the country's military and security forces as the Lebanese army battled Islamist militants' incursion into Lebanon near the border with Syria.

Richard Dawkins: Atheism’s asset or liability?

August 8, 2014

It may go down as one of the shortest-lived peace accords on record.