International News

News from outside of Canada.

Believers must oppose violence to promote peace, true faith, Pope says

October 27, 2011

ASSISI, Italy - Taking 300 religious leaders with him on pilgrimage to Assisi, Pope Benedict XVI said people who are suspicious of religion cannot be blamed for questioning God's existence when they see believers use religion to justify violence. "All their struggling and questioning is, in part, an appeal to believers to purify their faith so that God, the true God, becomes accessible," the Pope said Oct. 27 during an interfaith gathering in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. Marking the 25th anniversary of the first Assisi interfaith gathering for peace, hosted by Blessed John Paul II in 1986, Pope Benedict brought together the religious leaders and -- for the first time -- four philosophers who describe themselves as humanists or seekers who do not identify with any single religion.

Historic bell stolen from San Francisco cathedral found in salvage yard

October 27, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO - The historic bell stolen Oct. 23 from the grounds of St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco was recovered Oct. 26 in West Oakland across the street from a scrap metal yard near the Port of Oakland docks, San Francisco police said. The theft of the bell received widespread news coverage. Given to the church in 1889, the bell was in service at the former St. Mary's Cathedral until it burned to the ground in 1962, when it was moved to the current cathedral site. An informant notified San Francisco Police inspectors Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. that the 5,330-pound bell was resting on beams in a field in West Oakland, said Officer Albie Esparza.

Pope offers prayers for quake victims; agencies send aid to Turkey

October 26, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI offered prayers for the victims of Turkey's magnitude 7.2 earthquake as Catholic aid agencies worked to support the tens of thousands of victims left homeless in temperatures that approached freezing each night. At the Vatican Oct. 26, at the end of a prayer service for peace, Pope Benedict said his thoughts were with the victims of the earthquake that "caused a serious loss of human lives, numerous missing and extensive damage. I ask you to join me in prayer for those who lost their lives and to be spiritually close to the many people who are struggling. May the Almighty give support to those who are involved in the rescue work."

Pope prays Assisi pilgrimage will foster dialogue, peace

October 26, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI prayed that his interreligious pilgrimage to Assisi would promote dialogue among believers of different faiths and help the world move toward peace and reconciliation. "In a world still torn by hatred, divisions, selfishness and wars, we want to pray that tomorrow's meeting in Assisi would promote dialogue among people of different religions," the Pope said Oct. 26 during a prayer service at the Vatican. Pope Benedict prayed that the Assisi meeting would help "enlighten the minds and hearts of all men and women so that anger would give way to pardon, division to reconciliation, hatred to love, violence to meekness, so that peace would reign in the world."

Pope calls on Christians to offer prayers, help to world's migrants

October 25, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Christians need to offer migrants special care, ranging from prayer and concrete aid to promoting policies that uphold immigrants' rights and dignity, Pope Benedict XVI said. Modern migration represents "an unprecedented mingling of individuals and peoples, with new problems not only from the human standpoint but also from ethical, religious and spiritual ones," he said. The influx of people from all corners of the world offers new opportunities to evangelize and to provide material and spiritual care to those in need, he said.

Pontifical council calls for global authority to regulate markets

October 25, 2011

VATICAN CITY - A Vatican document has called for the gradual creation of a world political authority with broad powers to regulate financial markets and rein in the "inequalities and distortions of capitalist development." The document said the current global financial crisis has revealed "selfishness, collective greed and the hoarding of goods on a great scale." A supranational authority, it said, is needed to place the common good at the centre of international economic activity. The 41-page text is titled "Toward Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority." Prepared by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, it was released Oct. 24 in several languages, including a provisional translation in English.

Vatican officials see agreement in church teaching, Occupy Wall Street

October 24, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Catholic social teaching and the Occupy Wall Street movement agree that the economy should be at the service of the human person and that strong action must be taken to reduce the growing gap between rich and poor, Vatican officials said. "The basic sentiment" behind the protests is in line with Catholic social teaching and the new document on global finance issued Oct. 24 by Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said Cardinal Peter Turkson, council president. The U.S. protesters have focused on Wall Street because "Wall Street is considered to be a big engine house -- a big financial structure whose power extends all over the world," the cardinal told Catholic News Service.

Gadhafi's death won't end Lockerbie controversy

October 21, 2011

MANCHESTER, England - The death of Moammar Gadhafi will do nothing to end years of controversy over the Lockerbie bombing, said the priest who served in the Scottish town in 1988. Fr. Patrick Keegans, now the administrator of St. Mary Cathedral in Ayr, Scotland, said he regretted that the Libyan dictator was not allowed to live to stand trial for the "atrocities and crimes" he might have committed. He also said that Gadhafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years, will take to his grave valuable information about the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and knowledge of who was truly culpable of the attack. The bomb that exploded on board the airliner Dec. 21, 1988, killed 270 people, including 189 Americans and 11 people on the ground.

Catholics ponder Libya's future after Gadhafi

October 21, 2011

BEIRUT - Catholic leaders said they could not rejoice at the death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, but they recalled some of his more brutal moments and speculated on the future of Christians in the region. "Gadhafi brutalized people for 42 years. He lived by the sword and, therefore, it's not surprising that he would die by the sword," said Habib Malik, associate professor of history at the Lebanese American University, Byblos campus. "The manner of his death was gruesome and, no matter how evil a person might have been, such an ending is never something to rejoice about; however, he is now dead and his people are justifiably relieved and hopeful about starting a new chapter in their history."

Pope praises Dutch efforts to reduce drug abuse, prostitution

October 21, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI praised efforts by the Dutch government to reduce drug abuse and prostitution, measures hotly debated in the Netherlands where broad personal freedoms have made some cities, particularly Amsterdam, famous for red-light districts and coffee shops selling marijuana. "While your nation has long championed the freedom of individuals to make their own choices, nevertheless, those choices by which people inflict harm on themselves or others must be discouraged for the good of individuals and society as a whole," the Pope told the new Dutch ambassador to the Holy See.