International News

News from outside of Canada.

Mexican archbishop: Pope to address poverty, insecurity during visit

March 23, 2012

LEON, Mexico - Pope Benedict XVI will address the pressing issues of poverty and insecurity during his visit to Mexico, along with orienting Catholics toward a missionary mentality, the president of the Mexican bishops' conference said on the eve of the pontiff's arrival. "Without doubt, he will express preoccupation with the situations the country is experiencing," Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla told Catholic News Service March 22.

In Mexico and Cuba, papal trip to highlight local and regional issues

March 23, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict's trip to Mexico and Cuba March 23-28 will be a relatively brief one, consisting of a little more than two days in each country. Yet his visit is bound to highlight a wide range of prominent issues affecting an entire continent of crucial importance to the Catholic Church. The Pope arrives in Leon, in central Mexico, late afternoon local time March 23. His first full day's schedule will be light, no doubt reflecting concerns for the health of the pope, who turns 85 April 16. Pope Benedict's flight will have taken him across eight time zones, to a city 6,000 feet above sea level (compared to only 70 in Rome).

The cry of the poor: Pope likely to repeat criticism of Cuba embargo

March 23, 2012

VATICAN CITY - The Catholic Church's position on the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba is "no mystery," the Vatican spokesman said, and there's a good chance Pope Benedict XVI will publicly criticize the embargo when he visits Cuba. At the same time, Pope Benedict also will call for greater freedoms -- particularly religious freedom -- and respect for other human rights during his stay in Cuba March 26-28.

Pope names bishop once accused of improprieties to Vatican council

March 22, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has appointed a German bishop who had been accused of financial irregularities and hitting children to the Vatican's health care council. Retired Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg was named a member of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry March 21.

Religious leaders urge people to take stewardship message to Rio+20

March 21, 2012

JERUSALEM - Religious leaders in Jerusalem urged peoples of all denominations to take their faith-based commitment to the stewardship of God's creation to the U.N. Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil June 20-22. "We need to bring an invitation for all religious leaders from all faiths" to speak publicly, with determination, "so that we turn religion into a part of the solution rather than ... risking more and more becoming part of the problem," Melkite Archbishop Elias Chacour of Haifa told Catholic News Service at the March 19 Interfaith Climate and Energy Conference coordinated by the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development.

Stem-cell research debate rests on humans' value, says researcher

March 21, 2012

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The ethics of embryonic stem-cell research can't be discussed in isolation, said Maureen Condic, a neurobiology researcher at the University of Utah School of Medicine and a senior fellow at the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person. The discussion touches on the value of human life and intersects with the issue of abortion, said Condic, who visited Nashville to speak on the ethics of embryonic stem-cell research at the Cathedral of the Incarnation and to law students at Vanderbilt University.

Quake shakes central, southern Mexico, not region where pope will visit

March 20, 2012

MEXICO CITY - A strong earthquake shook southern and central regions of Mexico March 20, but it had little impact on the region Pope Benedict XVI will visit. "Everything is fine here," said Father Jorge Raul Villegas, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Leon, which will host Pope Benedict March 23-26.

Report documents anti-Christian prejudice, including laws, in Europe

March 20, 2012

OXFORD, England - A church-backed report has documented rising anti-Christian prejudice in Europe, despite calls for fairer legislation and measures to curb discrimination. "Studies suggest 85 percent of hate crimes in Europe are directed against Christians -- it is high time for the public debate to respond to this reality," said Gudrun Kugler, director of the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians.

Despite past shortcomings, Irish church is fighting abuse, Vatican says

March 20, 2012

VATICAN CITY - A Vatican-appointed investigation of the church in Ireland recognized serious shortcomings in the handling of accusations of the sexual abuse of minors, yet found that bishops, clergy and lay faithful are doing an "excellent" job in creating safe environments for children today. The investigators found that Irish bishops need to update their child protection guidelines, establish "more consistent admission criteria" for seminarians, and formulate policies on how best to deal with clergy and religious accused of abuse.

Pope offers condolences to Coptic Orthodox on death of patriarch Pope Shenouda

March 19, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Praising the ecumenical commitment of the late Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, Pope Benedict XVI offered his condolences to Orthodox Christians in Egypt on the death of their patriarch. Pope Shenouda, who served as patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church for 41 years, died March 17 at the age of 88.