International News

PITTSBURGH -- Pope Francis follows closely the news related to immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Archbishop Christophe Pierre said in May 30 interview in Pittsburgh.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A $60 million settlement to be paid by Fairfield University and several Catholic organizations and individuals will go to as many as 170 Haitian children at a Catholic orphanage who were abused by convicted pedophile Douglas Perlitz.

WASHINGTON -- Ukrainian Catholics in North America continue to struggle to develop ways to maintain their Ukrainian religious and ethnic identity amid a larger majority culture that beckons with the siren song of assimilation.

BEIRUT -- Syriac Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Nizar Semaan begins his new mission in Iraq with hope "that Christianity will flourish again" in his homeland.

PEORIA, Ill., (CNA) -- The Archdiocese of New York will work to help transfer the remains of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a spokesman for the archdiocese told CNA Saturday. The decision is the conclusion of a long legal battle over the late archbishop's burial place.

OXFORD, England -- A senior Dutch priest criticized media reports on the death of a teenager experiencing depression, accusing foreign media of "sensationalizing euthanasia" in his country.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Springfield Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki issued a decree June 6 stating that Catholic lawmakers in the Illinois Legislature "who promoted or voted for extreme abortion legislation" cannot receive Communion in churches in his diocese.

WASHINGTON -- When the bishops gather in Baltimore June 11-14, their meeting will be anything but pro forma.

COCHIN, India -- An Indian cardinal who faces multiple investigations for allegedly selling church land and incurring a multimillion-dollar loss has been cleared by his fellow bishops even though the Vatican has yet to rule on the case.

ROME -- Disciples of Jesus must reject any attitude or language that could increase intolerance or racism, especially in current social and political discussions about welcoming and integrating migrants, said the bishops of Italy's Lazio region.