VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Pope Francis travels to the United Arab Emirates Feb. 3-5, he will meet with the international Muslim Council of Elders, participate in an interreligious meeting and celebrate Mass for the local Catholic population, the vast majority of whom are foreign workers.
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SAO PAULO (CNS) -- A gunman opened fire inside a Brazilian church, killing four people and injuring four others before turning the gun on himself, police said. The shooting occurred Dec. 11 just as parishioners from Our Lady of the Conception Cathedral in Campinas, near Sao Paulo, were leaving a midday Mass.
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Mexico City, Mexico, Dec 11, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- It would be virtually impossible to travel to Mexico without seeing the colorful, star-cloaked, Satan-snake-crushing image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on street corners, in private homes, on restaurant walls, and certainly in church chapels.
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MELBOURNE, Australia (CNS) -- Australian Cardinal George Pell reportedly has been found guilty on five charges related to serious sexual misconduct involving two boys at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairmen of two U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committees welcomed a new explanation from the Treasury Department that relaxed rules on the payment of taxes by churches and nonprofits that offer employee parking.
Read moreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Three members of Pope Francis' Council of Cardinals have officially ended their service as papal advisers on the reform of the Roman Curia. In September, the council members had asked the pope for a reflection on "the work, structure and composition of the council itself, also taking into account the advanced age of some of its members."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God sends his consolation to those in need of reassurance, even when they are facing death, Pope Francis said. Just like the early Christian martyrs, who sang as they marched to their deaths in the Colosseum, today's martyrs still give witness to that same joy in the midst of suffering, the pope said in his homily Dec. 11 during morning Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae.
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MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- After more than a century, the United States government has returned three church bells swiped by American forces as war booty from the central Philippine town of Balangiga.
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Catholic representatives worked to keep negotiations on track for a comprehensive deal to address global warming as the U.N. climate change conference entered its second and final week in Katowice, Poland.
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ROME (CNS) -- Pope Francis made surprise visits Dec. 7 and 8 to people receiving medical care far from their homes, to a dozen intellectually challenged young people and to the staff of a major Rome newspaper.
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Edinburgh, Scotland, Dec 8, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- Both Catholics and Protestants in Scotland are lamenting a shopping center's decision not to include a nativity scene in its Christmas display. Thistles Shopping Centre in Stirling, fewer than 40 miles northwest of Edinburgh, said it will it not include a nativity scene in its Christmas display this year, noting the mall “prides itself on being religious and politically neutral,” according to The Scotsman, an Edinburgh daily.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The lives of 19 religious men and women martyred during the Algerian civil war are a testament to God's plan of love and peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, Pope Francis said.
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ROME (CNS) -- In the heart of Rome, near streets of fancy shops already blinged out for Christmas shopping, Pope Francis prayed for Romans struggling to survive and for families in the city and around the world who face the same lack of welcome that Mary and Joseph experienced.
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Dublin, Ireland, Dec 6, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- A unique Irish cross marking the 1,400-year-old grave of a Catholic saint is in danger of destruction due to erosion, and the local community is seeking help to restore the “icon of Ireland’s early Christian heritage.”
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PARIS (CNS) -- Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit planned to pray for the country Dec. 7, even as the French government dropped all fuel tax increases for 2019. The government move came after French cities were hit with weeks of violent protests, as French demanded lower fuel taxes and better purchasing power. Images of rampage at the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees during the Dec. 1 weekend have been shown around the world.
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German police and prosecutors are launching investigations into clergy sexual abuse following the Sept. 12 leak of a report containing evidence of 3,700 alleged child sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church over a 68-year-period.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The annual unveiling of the Vatican's Christmas tree and Nativity scene brought some much-needed warmth to people's hearts as winter approached. Hundreds of people in St. Peter's Square Dec. 7 applauded as white curtains unfurled, revealing a 52-foot wide artistic representation of Jesus' birth made entirely of sand and dubbed the "Sand Nativity."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis approved a new set of laws concerning the structure and governance of Vatican City State in an effort to simplify the many offices and activities of the world's smallest nation and to boost oversight, transparency and budgetary controls.
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LONDON (CNS) -- The heir to the British throne spoke of how he was deeply moved by the testimony of an Iraqi sister who fled Islamic State militants but has returned to the Ninevah Plain to help re-establish the Christian presence.
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The Vatican challenged countries gathered for the 24th U.N. Climate Change Conference to focus on the needs of the present and the future as it worked to take swift action. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, addressed the conference, COP24, in Katowice, Poland, Dec. 3 and told participants, "We are standing before a challenge of civilization for the benefit of the common good."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Advent season is a time of preparation for the coming of the prince of peace and not a time of making war with those around you, Pope Francis said. As Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, they must also reflect on what they do in their daily lives to become "artisans of peace," the pope said in his homily Dec. 4 during morning Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae.
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Vatican City, Nov 30, 2018 CNA.- In a book-length interview to be published next week, Pope Francis addressed gifts and challenges for clerical and religious vocations, among them the challenge of homosexuality in the clergy.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- It is not easy living with cancer, but there is always some kind of victory that awaits each person on the horizon, Pope Francis told young oncology patients from Poland. "Your journey in life is a bit difficult, dear children, because you have to get treated and overcome the disease or live with the disease. This is not easy," he told the children, their parents and health care specialists Nov. 30 at the Vatican.
Read moreROME (CNS) -- Three female survivors of sexual abuse by priests called on church leaders preparing for a February summit at the Vatican to listen to the voices of victims and to end a "culture of cover-up" that has dragged on for decades.
Read moreVatican City, Nov 28, 2018 CNA.- The next gathering of the Council of Cardinals, also known as the C9, will take place Dec. 10-12. It will likely be the last meeting of the council as it is presently constituted.
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MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- Catholic bishops have expressed hope that Pope Francis will canonize Blessed John Henry Newman in 2019 after Vatican medics said the inexplicable healing of a U.S. mother was a miracle attributable to his intercession.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- People can disagree about problems and the best ways to resolve them, but no one should launch a formal accusation against a pope much less ask for his resignation, German Cardinal Gerhard Muller said.
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MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte renewed his attacks on Catholic leaders and urged Filipinos to stop going to church altogether. The president, who earlier this year called God "stupid," suggested in a Nov. 26 speech that people should instead build their own chapels where they can pray, ucanews.com reported.
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Tokyo, Japan, Nov 28, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- A Christian scroll found in a Japanese museum is believed to be from the earliest days of Christianity in the country, researchers have said. The scroll measures about 10.5 feet long and about nine inches high, and depicts 15 scenes from the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The pictures include religious figures wearing traditional Japanese garments, and Latin prayers are spelled out in Japanese phonetic letters throughout the scroll.
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Washington D.C., Nov 27, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- A Chinese scientist’s claim to have created a gene-edited baby has been met with an outpouring of condemnation, with critics voicing alarm at what they described as a disregard for biomedical ethics.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Retired Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter correcting a German theologian who implied that the former pontiff encouraged the evangelization of the Jewish people as a mission. In a message sent to the German monthly, "Herder Korrespondenz," Pope Benedict responded to an article in which Michael Bohnke, the theologian, criticized the pope and accused him of advocating proselytism.
Read moreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A Vatican official said an intergovernmental pact can help countries address the current migration crisis through dialogue and concrete solutions rather than confrontation and fear.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Every heart enslaved by false idols and evil desires needs a "transplant" with a heart filled with love, joy, goodness, hope and generosity, Pope Francis said. "How does this 'heart transplant' happen? From an old heart to a new heart? Through the gift of new desires," the pope said Nov. 28 during his weekly general audience in the Vatican's Paul VI hall.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Sister Annie Demerjian has seen a lifetime of suffering in Aleppo, Syria, over the past seven years. Now, as conflict is beginning to die down, her ministry is no longer about getting emergency supplies to those in need as buildings collapsed and food, water and electricity were scarce. The current challenge is to help people begin to rebuild their lives.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Fully automated and autonomous lethal weapons systems must be banned now before they become a reality in tomorrow's wars, a Vatican representative said. The development of robotic weapons or "killer robots" will provide "the capacity of altering irreversibly the nature of warfare, becoming more detached from human agency, putting in question the humanity of our societies," Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic told a group of experts at the United Nations in Geneva.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- People would be wise to think about Judgment Day and wonder what God will see when he examines their lives, Pope Francis said. "If the Lord were to call me today, what would I do? What will I say? What harvest will I show him?" the pope asked during Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae Nov. 27.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- From the beach town of New Smyrna, Florida, just a stone's throw away from Daytona Beach, Rich Varano never imagined his unique talent of sculpting sand would take him to the heart of Christianity.
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MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The chaotic scene in Tijuana Nov. 25 -- when migrants, including women and children, were repelled from the U.S. border with tear gas -- prompted the closure of one of the world's busiest border crossings. It also showed the increasing impatience and despair of thousands of caravan participants, who could spend months in an uncomfortable camp as they wait to present asylum claims to U.S. officials.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The International Union of Superiors General has called on women religious who have suffered abuse to come forward and report it to their congregations and church and state authorities.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Priests must always keep in mind that their mission is to serve others and not claim superiority over the people entrusted to their care, Pope Francis said. Meeting with seminarians from the Sicilian coastal city of Agrigento Nov. 24, the pope and told them that priests must never forget their roots and that God chose them from among their people to serve.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus showed his authority as king not through the power of weaponry, violence or deceit but by the power of his love for the world through his death on the cross, Pope Francis said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis named U.S. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago to be part of the organizing committee preparing for a meeting of the world's bishops' conferences and representatives of religious orders to address the abuse and protection of minors.
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Vatican City, Nov 23, 2018 CNA.- Ahead of a major holiday for adherents of Sikhism, a Vatican council encouraged Christians and Sikhs alike to promote greater compassion toward all people, especially the vulnerable and marginalized.
Read moreVatican City, Nov 23, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- The Vatican announced Friday Pope Francis’ selection for the organizing committee of the Vatican’s February meeting of bishops on abuse prevention. Among the group named is Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago.
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Vatican City, Nov 23, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- The approach of Pope Francis’ meeting of bishops in February, on the topic of abuse prevention in the Church, will reflect the synodal journey, Fr. Hans Zollner told Vatican Media Friday.
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Orleans, France, Nov 23, 2018 CNA.- A French court has sentenced a priest to two years in prison, with a third year suspended, for the sexual abuse of minors. At the same time, the court also handed down a suspended sentence against his former bishop for failing to report an allegation against the priest to civil authorities.
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Krakow, Poland, Nov 21, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- Believed to be the “oldest nun in the world,” Polish Dominican nun Sister Cecylia Maria Roszak has died at the age of 110, the Archdiocese of Krakow has announced.
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Venice, Italy, Nov 21, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- To express solidarity with persecuted Christians, including Asia Bibi, a Pakistani woman recently acquitted of blasphemy, the city of Venice was illuminated in red light Tuesday night.
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MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The Mexican bishops' conference has established a team for protecting children against clerical sexual abuse, advise church leaders and develop and outline prevention protocols.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Pope Francis visits Panama for World Youth Day in January, he will meet with young people not able to attend the festivities: some in jail and with some living with HIV. He also will dedicate the altar of Panama's newly renovated 400-year-old cathedral, meet with bishops from Central America and have lunch with some of the young people attending the youth day gathering, according to the schedule released by the Vatican Nov. 20.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis asked people to give thanks to God for the gift of so many men and women living a cloistered life of total dedication to prayer. "May these communities not lack affection, closeness and support," including material support, from the entire church, he said, marking World Day of Cloistered Life, Nov. 21, at the end of his general audience in St. Peter's Square.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God handed down his commandments not for people to hypocritically follow the letter of the law with a proud and righteous heart, but for people to recognize the truth of their weaknesses and acknowledge their need for help, healing and salvation, Pope Francis said.
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The Archdiocese of Berlin took Pope Francis's call to participate in World Day of the Poor to a new level by hosting a festive banquet for the city's poor in St. Hedwig's Cathedral. In honor of World Day of the Poor, Archbishop Heiner Koch opened the doors of the cathedral on Sunday at noon to an estimated 300 guests and 140 helpers from local parishes, including needy, ill, elderly and homeless people.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After Islamic terrorists stormed the Algerian monastery he called home, Trappist Father Christian de Cherge felt compelled to put pen to paper and write down his testament. Father de Cherge, prior of the Monastery of Notre Dame de l'Atlas, said he held no ill will to those who would eventually kill him. In his letter, written between Dec. 1, 1993, and Jan. 1, 1994, he said he knew extremists in the country followed a "caricature of Islam" and urged his loved ones to not confuse Muslim "religious tradition with the all-or-nothingness of the extremists."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Antimicrobial resistance poses a "great challenge" to global public health and puts the most vulnerable in our society at risk, said Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In another example of the "diplomacy of art," the Vatican inaugurated a landmark exhibit of "spiritual" masterpieces from Moscow's famed Tretyakov Gallery and other state galleries in Russia.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the rich get richer, the increasing misery and cries of the poor are ignored every day, Pope Francis said. "We Christians cannot stand with arms folded in indifference" or thrown up in the air in helpless resignation, the pope said in his homily Nov. 18, the World Day of the Poor.
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