International News

A new earthquake struck the border area between Turkey and Syria the night of Feb. 20, sparking fear and anxiety for people already bereft and for those helping them since the Feb. 6 temblor. Six people were reported killed in the new quake.

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O'Connell, a native of Ireland who spent most of his four decades as a priest ministering in LA's inner city, was shot and killed Feb. 18 in his Hacienda Heights home, a neighborhood east of LA.

An Ohio Catholic priest told OSV News "it will be a long time" before he and his parishioners feel secure in their surroundings, following a train derailment that dumped toxic chemicals into the environment.

Catholic experts are expressing concern after a recent Pew Research Center survey found that only 35% of U.S. Catholic parents say that it is extremely or very important to them that their children grow up to hold similar religious beliefs.

A final report on abuse of children in Portugal’s Catholic Church has revealed more than 4,800 children had been victims of clergy sexual abuse in the country from 1950 to 2022.

Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa was convicted and sentenced by a Nicaraguan court to 26 years in prison Feb. 10 — barely a day after the outspoken prelate defied President Daniel Ortega by refusing to go into exile.

Last December's Christmas tree lightings in many towns and cities in Jerusalem finally pointed to a return toward normalcy for Holy Land pilgrim visits and tourism to Israel following the global pandemic and lockdowns beginning in 2020.

Four Canadian Catholic organizations have joined forces to deliver aid and support to Turks and Syrians who have lost family, their homes and their livelihoods to the massive earthquake that rumbled near Turkey’s southern border with Syria.

Catholic and other humanitarian agencies are calling the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Feb. 6 and a second tremor hitting southern Turkey and northern Syria “tragic” and are appealing for aid.

The severe health care and hunger crisis affecting the Yanomami indigenous people in Roraima state prompted the Brazilian church to coordinate help and to work side by side with government agencies and indigenous organizations to provide food and medical attention to the sick.