International News

News from outside of Canada.

Pope donates funds to aid people affected by violence in Syria

April 2, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has donated $100,000 to help the people of Syria. The Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Vatican's charity promotion and coordinating office, announced March 31 that the Pope made the donation to fund "the charitable work of the local church in Syria supporting the population" that has been hit by the ongoing violence in the country. The council's secretary, Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso, was to personally deliver the aid March 31 and meet with Melkite Patriarch Gregoire III Laham of Damascus, Syria, as well as other local church leaders.

Pope criticizes US embargo, renews call for more freedom in Cuba

March 29, 2012

HAVANA - Preparing to leave Cuba at the end of a three-day pastoral visit, Pope Benedict XVI made his first reference to the U.S. embargo of the island and the embargo's impact on the country's poor. All Cubans need to work together to build a renewed and reconciled society, but progress is difficult given a "lack of material resources, a situation which is worsened when restrictive economic measures, imposed from outside the country, unfairly burden its people," the Pope said March 28 during his official farewell ceremony. He did not mention the United States by name.

Pope meets Fidel Castro before leaving Cuba

March 29, 2012

HAVANA - Pope Benedict XVI met former Cuban President Fidel Castro in the apostolic nunciature in Havana March 28 and answered the ailing former leader's questions, the Vatican spokesman said. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said he was watching the two men through a window, and afterward he spoke with the Pope about the conversation, which seemed very animated.

Vietnam pulls visas of diocesan group promoting cardinal's sainthood

March 28, 2012

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vietnamese government revoked the visas of representatives of the Rome Diocese, including Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, postponing the delegation's plans for a visit to the communist country. The delegation had planned to visit Vietnam March 23-April 9 to hear the testimonies of people who knew the late Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, whose cause for sainthood was launched by the Diocese of Rome in 2010. Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, vice director of the Vatican press office, told Catholic News Service March 28 that the Vatican was not directly involved with the planned trip.

Pope asks Castro for more church freedom, Good Friday holiday

March 28, 2012

HAVANA - Pope Benedict XVI spent more than 40 minutes meeting privately with Cuban President Raul Castro and asked the Cuban leader for further freedoms for the Catholic Church in Cuba and attention to certain "humanitarian" situations. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters late March 27 that while he could not give the press details about the humanitarian cases raised during the meeting, the Pope did give Castro specific names of people in detention or suffering for other reasons the government was in a position to help alleviate.

Vatican approves blessing rite for unborn children

March 28, 2012

WASHINGTON - Just in time for Mother's Day, U.S. Catholics parishes will be able to celebrate the new Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb. The Vatican has given its approval to publication in English and Spanish of the new rite, which was approved by the U.S. bishops in November 2008, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced March 26. The blessing will be printed in both languages in a combined booklet.

Organizers: Vatican congress on stem cells canceled for lack of funds

March 27, 2012

VATICAN CITY - A Vatican-sponsored congress on the ethical use of stem cells in scientific research was canceled because of a lack of funding, organizers said. The Third International Congress on Responsible Stem Cell Research was to be held April 25-28 at the Vatican and was being organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life with the collaboration of the Vatican-based International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, the Jerome Lejeune Foundation and the Bioethical Consultative Committee of Monaco.

Salvadoran bishop says he helped negotiate gang truce

March 27, 2012

SAN SALVADOR - A Salvadoran bishop said he helped persuade the leaders of El Salvador's two most notorious gangs to end a wave of killings across the country. Bishop Fabio Colindres, who ministers as a military chaplain, said that for humanitarian reasons he mediated with the government so that 30 leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs, who have been held in a maximum security prison in Zacatecoluca, could gain better prisons conditions.

Landmark clergy sex abuse trial begins in Philadelphia

March 27, 2012

PHILADELPHIA - State prosecutors and defense lawyers for Msgr. William J. Lynn and Father James J. Brennan all decried the issue of sexual abuse of children at the start of a criminal trial March 26 in Philadelphia. Despite that apparent agreement, the attorneys embarked on sharply divergent paths as they made opening arguments before presiding Judge M. Teresa Sarmina and jurors at the beginning of the trial for Msgr. Lynn, 61, former secretary for clergy of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and Father Brennan, an archdiocesan priest.

Cardinal Tauran carries papal message urging peaceful coexistence to Nigeria

March 27, 2012

LAGOS, Nigeria - Delivering a message from Pope Benedict XVI, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue urged Christians and Muslims in Nigeria to be tolerant of each other in an effort to build understanding and end the violence that has plagued much of the country. Speaking at an interfaith meeting in the northern city of Jos March 25, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said tolerance was the only path to achieving a peaceful coexistence among people of different faiths. The cardinal explained during the meeting, organized by Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of Jos, that the pope sent him to join religious leaders in seeking ways of ending violent attacks that have left nearly 2,000 people dead and widespread destruction.