International News

News from outside of Canada.

At least 13 dead as boat carrying pilgrims capsizes in Amazon

October 14, 2013

SAO PAULO - At least 13 people died and five were reported missing after a boat carrying devotees of Our Lady of Nazareth capsized in the Amazon River.

German bishops' conference investigating multimillion building project

October 14, 2013

VATICAN CITY - The president of the German bishops' conference said he is following with "great attention and great concern" the case of a bishop accused of making false statements in court and under fire for allegedly spending close to $40 million in renovations and new construction on his residence and diocesan offices.

Melkite archbishop in Lebanon leads outreach to Syrian refugees

October 13, 2013

LARNACA, Cyprus - Melkite Archbishop Issam Darwich of Zahleh and Furzol, Lebanon, knows what it's like to be a stranger in strange land.

Pope meets Rome Jews, commemorates deportations to Auschwitz

October 12, 2013

VATICAN CITY - At a meeting with members of Rome's Jewish community, Pope Francis denounced anti-Semitism and recalled the 1943 deportation of more than 1,000 of the city's Jews to the most notorious Nazi death camp -- an incident that has proven a major source of tension between the papacy and Jewish leaders.

Church workers: Honduran mine concessions fuel human rights abuses

October 10, 2013

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Four years after a coup d'etat threw Honduras into crisis, church workers said human rights abuses continue unabated, fueled by disputes over mining concessions.

Vatican takes another step in promoting financial transparency

October 9, 2013

VATICAN CITY - With the adoption of a detailed new law on financial transparency, vigilance and information, the Vatican has almost completely revamped its finance laws in less than three years, the Vatican spokesman said.

Britain's top prosecutor confirms gender-based abortions are legal

October 8, 2013

MANCHESTER, England - Abortions on grounds of gender are legal in Britain, the country's top prosecutor clarified in a letter to the government.

Muslim leader says pope is model of what religious leader should be

October 8, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, like Islam's Sufi mystic theologians and poets, "is trying to do good for the sake of the Good One, motivated by love and compassion," said the president of the Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland.

Pope sends official to Lampedusa where migrants' boat sank

October 7, 2013

VATICAN CITY - As efforts to recover the bodies of migrants who drowned off Italy's southern coast continued, Pope Francis again asked people to pray for the victims and he sent his almoner to Lampedusa to pray over the 194 corpses recovered as of Oct. 6 and to visit the survivors.

Author Tom Clancy was huge supporter of Catholic education

October 3, 2013

BALTIMORE - Even after Tom Clancy became an international best-selling novelist whose fans included the likes of President Ronald Reagan, the Baltimore-born writer never forgot the role his hometown Catholic education played in giving him the tools to his success.