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.”
International News
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.
Pope Appeals for Restraint Against Escalating Conflict in Middle East
Pope Francis called for dialogue and cooperation between neighboring nations and appealed for restraint against any actions that could escalate tensions in the Middle East.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez Released, Exiled from Nicaragua After Over 500 Days of Detention
Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa has been released from prison and sent into exile along with 18 imprisoned churchmen as the Nicaraguan government expelled its most prominent critic, whose presence behind bars bore witness to the Sandinista regime descent into totalitarianism, along with its unrelenting persecution of the Catholic Church.