As Ukraine prepares to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion Feb. 24, Church leaders of the war-torn country urged people not to forget the suffering and devastation that continues to take place.
International News
Argentina’s First Female Saint Works New Miracle With Pope, Populist President
Argentina’s first female saint arguably worked yet another miracle at her own canonization Mass Sunday, bringing Pope Francis and rightwing populist Argentine President Javier Milei, known for his derogatory remarks about the pontiff, together for a warm embrace.
Northern Ireland Has Catholic Leading Its Government for the First Time in History
Ireland’s most-senior churchman hailed an agreement that sees a Catholic take the top political job in Northern Ireland for the first time in its history as an “opportunity for a fresh start and a new beginning.”
Pope, in Letter to Jews in Israel, Condemns Antisemitism as a Sin
In a letter addressed to “my Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel,” Pope Francis expressed his heartbreak at the violence unleashed by the Hamas attack on Israel in October and he repeated the Catholic Church’s condemnation of all forms of antisemitism and anti-Judaism.
For Turkey’s Christians, Attack Is a Remembrance of Things Past
In the wake of a shooting at a Catholic Church in an Istanbul neighborhood Sunday that left one person dead, for which the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility, fear is once again on the rise among Turkey’s embattled Christian minority.
Holy Land’s Top Catholic Urges Cease-Fire in Gaza, Two-State Solution for Middle East
While conceding it’s not “realistic” to expect peace anytime soon, the top Catholic official in the Holy Land nevertheless has called for an immediate cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and for real progress toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
With New Bishop, Diocese, Pope Extends Policy of Detente With China
Several significant developments for the Catholic Church in China have occurred over the past week, including the appointment of a new bishop and the establishment of a new diocese on the mainland for the first time since Mao’s Communist revolution.
Islamic State Group Claims Responsibility for Attack on Church in Turkey
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul during a Sunday Mass that killed one person.
Nuns and Lay Companions Kidnapped in Haiti Have Been Released Unharmed
The six women religious kidnapped in Haiti, along with two laypeople traveling with them, were released in good condition Jan. 24 after five days of captivity, according to the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Vatican Court Hands Down First-Ever Conviction for Sexual Abuse Inside Vatican Walls
A Vatican court on Jan. 24 overturned the acquittal of a priest accused of sexually abusing a younger student at the Vatican’s St. Pius X Pre-Seminary, delivering a guilty verdict in a landmark case that was the first ever to go to trial for alleged sexual abuse within Vatican walls.