Santiago, Chile | AFP | Pope Francis will hold a closely watched meeting with members of Chile’s under-fire clergy on Tuesday, the first full day of his visit to a country whose Church is beset by sex abuse scandals. He arrived in Santiago Monday night and was received by leftist President …
Read More »C. Africa bishops urge fighters to lay down arms
Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | Catholic bishops in the Central African Republic have appealed to armed groups controlling swathes of the chronically unstable country to stop looting and lay down their arms. Mired in poverty but rich in minerals, the former French colony has been battered by a conflict …
Read More »Do not fear the other, pope says on World Migrant Day
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis called Sunday for hospitality towards migrants, calling it a “sin” to give in to fear of the other as he marked the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “It is not easy… to put oneself in the shoes of people so …
Read More »Toll from Boko Haram attacks falls in Niger: UN
Niamey, Niger | AFP | A total of 141 civilians in Niger were killed, kidnapped or wounded by the Boko Haram jihadist group last year, a sharp fall compared with 2016, the UN said on Wednesday. The toll in 2016 was 227 after 214 in 2015, the Office for the Coordination …
Read More »Grieving Afghans end deadly year with tears and funerals
Kabul, Afghanistan | AFP | Mourners on a cold, barren hill outside Kabul wept Friday as they buried loved ones killed in a suicide attack targeting Shiites, the latest victims in one of the bloodiest years in the war-torn country. At a Shiite cemetery spread over the hills dozens of …
Read More »Pope pleads for migrants at Christmas mass
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis in his Christmas eve mass Sunday urged the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics not to ignore the plight of migrants who are “driven from their land” because of leaders willing to shed “innocent blood”. “So many other footsteps are hidden in the …
Read More »HRW denounces attacks on Sufi shrines in Libya
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Human Rights Watch on Thursday denounced a series of attacks against shrines of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam in Libya by “extremist” militias. “Sufi religious sites are under assault in Libya,” the New York-based rights watchdog said after two attacks in the capital Tripoli …
Read More »Myanmar social media anger after Pope uses ‘Rohingya’ word
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Pope Francis’s embrace of the Rohingya during a trip to Bangladesh has sparked some angry comment on social media in Myanmar, where just days earlier he chose not to publicly air their plight. On Friday the head of the Catholic church met a group of …
Read More »Pope Francis wraps up Asia tour after meeting Rohingya
Dhaka, Bangladesh | AFP | Pope Francis wrapped up a high-stakes Asia tour Saturday after meeting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in a highly symbolic gesture of solidarity with the Muslim minority fleeing violence in Myanmar. The Catholic leader visited a hospital in Dhaka run by the order of Mother Theresa on …
Read More »Pope wraps up contentious Myanmar visit
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Pope Francis on Thursday wraps up a visit to Myanmar defined by his decision not to address the Rohingya crisis in public, and flies to Bangladesh, where huge numbers of refugees from the Muslim minority languish in refugee camps. Christians make up less than 0.5 percent …
Read More »